The United States, along with Britain and France, just bombed Syria. It’s the second time the US has waded into the country’s seven-year conflict in response to a chemical weapons attack.
The strikes were conducted to purposefully minimize the spread of chemical weapons that might’ve been stored at the facilities.
The Trump administration has offered mixed messages about its commitment to attacking Syria after chemical attacks. “We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents,” President Donald Trump said from the White House on Friday night.
But soon after, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis gave a different assessment. “Right now, this is a one-time shot,” Mattis added, “designed to set back the Syrian war machine’s ability to produce chemical weapons.” Mattis did note the increased scale of the strikes compared to last year’s attack. “This time with our allies, we have struck harder,” Mattis said. “Together we have sent a clear message to Assad and his murderous lieutenants that they should not perpetrate another chemical weapons attack.”
Syrian regime claims that they have downed large number of missiles by their air defence system (73 out of 103 missiles)
From the statements, it is clear that US and its allies are most aware that Syrian regime nuclear strike capability has not been diminished. Thus, the damage given by air strike is not that vital for regime. Most air bases are operatable despite the fact that some facilities are destroyed. However considering the logistic availability, Syria regime can and likely would repair the damage in short time.
Thus, leaves the question; is there any viable solution to Syrian regime aggression at site?
Russia has been construcing and enlarging its military existence in Tartus since 2012 with massive construction activities. This enables big ships like destroyers to harbor in the port. Meaning - Unless Russia agrees on any solution, there is no viable future in Syria. Even Russia with bad economic prospects for future, Russia will not likely to abondon its interest in the region. And above all, the most important interest is to make US and EU to concentrate on Middle East and not on Ukraine.
