US air strikes in Syria jeopardize peace prospects

US air strikes on a Syrian airbase, from where alleged chemical weapons attacks were conducted have seriously jeopardized the peace prospects and possibly killed the hope that the Trump Presidency in the United States would finally end the five-year long bloody battle in Syria and in other parts of the Middle East. The air strike has also triggered a major backlash in the United States with some of the Trump supporters feel that the President is backtracking on his promises of reconciliation with the Russians. Since the airstrikes on April 7th, both pro-Assad and anti-Assad camps have sharpened their verbal attacks on each other.

• Russia condemned the attack on Syria and canceled the Syria memorandum of air safety with the United States, which could bring these two superpowers in direct military conflict with each other, by increasing the risks of unintentional or accidental aerial confrontation.
• At the United Nation Security Council’s (UNSC) emergency meeting that was called by Russia, several countries spoke against the US attacks. Bolivia condemned the attack citing the United States’ past in Iraq.
• The United Kingdom and the United States blamed Russia for the US airstrike because of its failure to command over the Assad regime.
• US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson condemned Russian support of Assad regime and declared a change of stance by calling an end to the Assad regime. Previously, Tillerson said that the United States under the Trump administration is ending its decades-old ‘regime change’ policies.
• US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the US is considering additional sanctions on Syria.
• US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley said in an interview that the regime change in Syria is a key priority now and tougher sanctions on both Russia and Iran are not off the table.
• Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry said that the United States has not presented any evidence that shows the Shyrat airfield (now destroyed) had chemical weapons.
• In a statement, the pro-Assad alliance that includes both Iran and Russia said that the US attacks on Syria crossed the red line and from now on, the alliance would respond with force to any aggressor or to the breach of any red lines in Syria.

The recent attack by the US on Syria not only killed the prospects of peace but pushed the US-Russia relations to the lowest point on Syria since 2011/12 when the Obama administration was considering direct military intervention.