Putin: U.S. Airstrikes Violate “the Norms International Law, and Under a Far-fetched Pretext”

Earlier this week, Donald Trump promised retaliation against the Bashar al-Assad for his use of chemical weapons. We didn’t have to wait long to see what that meant. One day later, 59 tomahawk missiles destroyed the Syrian airbase that launched the attack:

At least six people were killed, Syria claimed, but the Pentagon said civilians were not targeted and the strike was aimed at a military airfield in the western province of Homs.

The action completed a policy reversal for President Donald Trump — who once warned America to stay out of the conflict — and drew anger from Damascus and its main ally, Russia.
The missiles were launched from the USS Ross and the USS Porter in the Mediterranean Sea toward Shayrat Airfield. American officials believe it was used by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad to carry out a strike on Tuesday involving chemical weapons that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people.

“Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children,” Trump said in remarks from Mar-a-Lago, his family compound in Palm Beach, Florida. “It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.”

The president also called on other countries to end the bloodshed in Syria.

It’s nice to see that American once again has a president that is willing to follow through on threats of retaliation. Syria once again crossed the line, and, unlike Obama, Trump was ready to respond.

As should have been expected, Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the strikes:

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to news reports, said Mr. Putin “considers the American strikes against Syria an aggression against a sovereign government in violations of the norms of international law, and under a far-fetched pretext.”
“This step by Washington is causing significant damage to Russian-American relations, which are already in a deplorable state,” he said.
The response came hours after Mr. Trump told reporters he authorized the strike in response to a chemical weapons attack that the White House has said was carried out by Mr. Assad.
“It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons,” Mr. Trump said. “There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the U.N. Security Council.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, meanwhile, said that Russia either was complicit or “simply” incompetent in failing to follow through on the commitments it made in a 2013 agreement struck with the Obama administration to secure Syria’s chemical weapons.

Sources: NBC, Washington Times