© BBCDamaged aircraft hangar at Shayrat airbase.
Her til morgen, har USA efter eget udsagn affyret 59 krydsermissiler fra Middelhavet for at være istand til at ødelægge den syriske militær flyvebase ved Sha'irat. Angrebet var ment som en ensidig aktion med det mål at straffe angrebet med kemiske våben som USA tillægger den syriske arabiske hær.
I forbavselse over størrelsen af den amerikanske reaktion, så konkluderer alle kommentatorer at Trump administrationen har gjort en kovending på 180° angående det syriske spørgsmål. Det hævdedes at det Hvide Hus langt om længe har adopteret holdningen af den amerikanske opposititon og også den af det britiske, franske og tyske allierede. Virkeligt?
Virkeligheden står ikke i forhold til historien
Uden forhindring, krydsede amerikanske krydsermissiler den zone som er kontrolleret af det nye russiske våben som forhindrer NATO kommunikationer og befalinger. Ifølge General Philip Breedlove, den forhenværende tophærleder for NATO, så gjorde dette våben det muligt for Rusland at have en fordel overfor USA i hvad angår konventionel krigsførelse. Det skulle normalt have forstyrret styresystemerne af disse missiler, men tilsyneladende fungerede det ikke. Det indikerer enten at Pentagon nu har fundet et teknisk modsvar, eller at våbnet var blevet de-aktiveret af russerne.
Kommentar: Denne artikel er delvis oversat til dansk af sott.net fra: President Trump asserts his authority over his allies
En norsk oversættelse af hele artiklen kan findes her.
The Syrian anti-air defence system includes S-300's controlled by the Syrian Arab Army and S-400's served by the Russian army. These weapons are supposed to be capable of intercepting cruise missiles, although the situation has never yet presented itself in combat conditions. They are, of course, triggered automatically, but they did not function either. Therefore no anti-missile missiles were fired, neither by the Russian army, nor by the Syrian army.
When the US cruise missiles hit their targets, they landed on a military base which was almost deserted, having been evacuated only a short time before. Therefore, the missiles destroyed the tarmac, the radar equipment and a number of aircraft which had long been out of service, some hangars and living quarters. They nonetheless caused a dozen victims, six of whom died. Although no cruise missile was officially tracked as off-course or destroyed, only 23 and not 59 hit the base at Sha'irat.
Comment: Other reports say the tarmac was not destroyed, as evidenced by the video.
What does this masquerade mean?
Since he acceded to the White House, President Trump has been trying to change his country's policies, to substitute cooperation for the current confrontational system. On the question of the "Middle East", he took position for the "destruction" of jihadist organisations (and not for their "reduction", as his predecessor claimed).
Over the last few days, Trump has recognised the legitimacy of the Syrian Arab Republic, and thus the maintenance in power of the democratically-elected President, Bachar el-Assad. He received the Egyptian President, Marshall Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, an ally of Syria, and congratulated him for his fight against the jihadists. He has re-established a direct communications channels between Washington and Damascus.
In any case, President Trump's problem was to convince his allies to apply his policies whatever the investment they had made to overthrow the Syrian Arab Republic. It is of course possible that President Trump made his about-face in three days simply because he saw a video broadcast on YouTube, but it is more probable that this morning's military action is the continuation of his previous diplomatic actions.
By attacking, President Trump satisfied his opposition, so they will be unable to oppose the next phase of operations. Yesterday, Hillary Clinton called for the bombing of Syria in a riposte to the alleged use of chemical weapons.
Donald Trump ordered his troops to fire cruise missiles on an almost empty base, after having given advance notice to the whole world, including Russia and Syria.
Damascus, by sacrificing this base and the lives of a few men, gave him the authority to carry out a vast action against anyone who uses chemical weapons. But so far, the only people who actually use these weapons, and have been identified by the United Nations for doing so, are - the jihadists.
Daesh, which had also been warned of the US attack (but by its British, French and German commanders), immediately launched an attack on Homs, which is now deprived of an air base.
We shall see in the next few days how Washington and its allies will react to the jihadist advance. It will only be at that moment that we shall know if Donald Trump's manœuvre and the gamble by Vladimir Putin and Bachar el-Assad has worked.
Kommentar: If the above reasoning is indicative of motive and action, Trump's tack has also paved the way to up the level of retaliation against the jihadists who really use chemical weapons. Assad was then the sticker face to open that door. At this point, however, all theories regarding this military action are, at best, an exercise in second-guessing.