What happened?
On Tuesday the world woke up to a Syria devastated by chemical weapons. The attack had taken place in Khan Sheikhoun, a town located in the Injul Province of Northern Syria. The gas attack culminated in the death of over seventy people scattered over all ages and gender.
No party claimed responsibility for the attack though several parties accused the Syrian government of perpetrating it. The WHO identified the possible chemical weapon as the nerve toxin Sarin.
The Aftermath
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, United States President Donald Trump called the attack an ‘affront to humanity.’ President Trump said that he could not fathom how anyone would commit an act so terrible as to kill ‘innocent women and children’ without remorse.
When US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley spoke to the press last week, she had stated that the Trump administration would cease pursuing the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s usurping in favor of dealing with ISIS. However, the Syrian chemical attack has led to a turn of events. In the press conference on Wednesday, President Trump revealed that the attack had ‘changed his attitude toward Syria and its government.’
President Trump also said that he intended to change the method that the US government used in dealing with the Middle-Eastern nation. “The former administration put so much emphasis on red-lining the use of chemical weapons in Syria but did not act on it… the Syrian government crossed so many of these lines on this attack,” he remarked. He did not, however, provide any details as to how he would enforce this statement before he proceeded to host Jordan’s King Abdulla.
Nikki Haley was more vocal about what she thought about the whole situation. Speaking at the United Nations emergency session in New York, Haley expressed outrage at the alleged audacity of the Syrian government. She showcased photos of the aftermath of the attack in the session and urged the United Nations to do something about the situation ‘lest the US do it by itself.’ Vice President Mike Pence also said in support of that statement, “There will be no method of the table with Syria.”
Haley additionally pointed out that this was not the first time Assad and his government had supposedly used chemical weapons against civilians. In August 2013 there was a similar incident in Damascus. Back then Assad had blamed the attack on rebels, as he did with this latest attack. Haley put it across that she thought Assad was using the ‘same false narrative’ to get away with the killings. She also hinted at the possibility of Russia, which was believed to have been involved in the Damascus incident cover-up, could be involved in this latest attack as well.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson commented on the Russians’ possible involvement in the recent Syrian occurrence. Tillerson warned Russia to beware of its ‘close association’ with Syria and to reconsider its choice of ally.
With tens of civilians suffering in the aftermath of the attack, peace seems further away for war-torn Syria.
