By: A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA.

The world population articulated a sigh of relief when the newly elected U.S.President Donald Trumph expressed that he would change the American foreign policy of war  mongering and acting as the world Policeman, establish cordial relationship with Russia and China and give priority to national interests of the United States drifting away from Obama/Hillary Clinton policies.

However the American weapons industry which dominates the Pentagon was waiting for the slightest opportunity to force Trumph to abandon his admirable foreign policies and dip America once again in its hegemonic policies and precipitate a confrontational attitude with Russia.  Emulating Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, America has once again taken to military action overseas

On Friday morning of 7^th April the US Navy warships launched a massive missile strike at the Shayrat airfield in Syria, allegedly for destroying chemical weapons and neither the Pentagon nor the State Department have provided any evidence of presence of chemical weapons at this airbase. It  launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at the airfield, an claimed that it   was in response to the alleged chemical attack in Syria’s Idlib Province, blaming the Syrian government for the incident and said that dozens of civilians including children died from suspected gas poisoning in the rebel-occupied territory earlier this month.

Refuting the allegations Russia has said that any specialist from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) knows that traces of chemical agents cannot be hidden for months and years” if they were stored somewhere. Reminding of then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s white powder vial at the UN and other allegations of the chemical weapons threat” in Iraq it has said that special equipment to collect samples for further scientific analysis should be used at the airfield, adding that Russia has already undertaken similar procedures in Aleppo, Syria where it said chemical weapons had been used by militants.

The Russian News Agency Pravda said that  many wondered why Russian sophisticated air defence systems, such as Pantsir, S-300, S-400, Buk-M2 and Tor complexes, have not protected Syria from 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched by Ross and Porter destroyers and explained that Russian air defences were deployed in Syria in agreement with the legitimate Syrian government to protect Russian facilities – the airfield, bases, troops and  infrastructure of the Russian Air Force. It said that Russia could obviously have intercepted USA’s low-flying targets with the use of Pantsir systems. Yet, if Syria had used Russian air defense systems in response to the US missile attack, it would have triggered a nuclear conflict and the composure of the Russian Commander-in-Chief made it possible to avoid a nuclear conflict, It also stated that if Russia had responded to the USA, it would have launched a nuclear conflict – a clash of two nuclear powers on a third territory.

Reports said that at the UN Security Council’s emergency‘open session’ on Syria US Ambassador Nikki Haley’s dramatic gesture of holding up photographs of chemical-gassed children only served to bring to mind the now famous theatrical display of a vial of anthrax by US Secretary of State Colin Powell at the same venue to warn the Council of the imminent danger that lay before the world from Weapons of Mass Destruction   in Iraq.

The Russian Deputy Ambassador has inevitably referred to the 2003 ‘Anthrax episode’ as well, since the Security Council session’s target for verbal recriminations by US, UK and France was more Russia than Syria. He has made it a point to warn Britain not even try to get into a war in the Middle East because he has said that in that part of the world they still remember Britain’s colonial hypocrisy.

Military and political analysts point out that the US missile attack flouted a number of provisions in international law and the Security Council is meant to prevent threats to international peace and security and it is sad to note that the notorious three, the evil trio,  of the five permanent members of the UNSC cheering on the violation of the sovereignty of another country, killing of innocent unarmed people including children and verbally carpet bombing Russia for not agreeing with them whereas Russia aptly deserves commendation for preventing a horrible nuclear war.