Was Friday's Joint Missile Strike On Syria Legal?

Tracy Craig

Could not have had a better result.

U.S. President Donald Trump praised the military strike on Syria as a "perfectly executed" operation and said it was aimed at ending the use of such weapons of mass destruction.

White says the strikes "were very successful. It is a common industrial chemical", said Daryl Kimball at the Washington-based Arms Control Association, who favours broad action to deter use of chemical weapons, including chlorine.

At a Pentagon briefing on April 14, Lieutenant-General Kenneth McKenzie said three sites that are "fundamental components of the regime's chemical-weapons infrastructure" were struck.

During a special meeting at the U.N., Haley said Friday's missile strike sent a "clear" message: "The United States of America will not allow the [Syrian President Bashar] Assad regime to continue to use chemical weapons". "We call upon Russian Federation to honor its commitment to ensure the Assad regime dismantles its chemical weapons program and never uses chemical weapons again". "When our president draws a red line, our president enforces a red line".

Aides told Reuters Trump changed his mind after being shown images of Syrians killed by the chemical weapons last Saturday, about a year after he first ordered air strikes against Syrian targets to retaliate for an earlier use of the banned substances.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation supports US-led strikes in Syria, UN calls for restraint
Syrian air defenses responded firmly to the Western powers' attacks, shooting down most of the missiles fired at the country. Neither Washington nor Moscow want to see an escalation of the overall long-running conflict in Syria, say analysts.

"Good souls will not be humiliated", Assad tweeted, while hundreds of Syrians gathered in Damascus, the capital, where they flashed victory signs and waved flags in scenes of defiance after the one-hour barrage. "No local resident confirmed the chemical attack".

"A plan for ending the crisis must be found, with a political solution".

"Russia condemns in the strongest possible terms the attack against Syria, where Russian military personnel are assisting the legitimate government in its counterterrorism efforts", Putin said in the statement. Russian Federation said on Saturday it would consider supplying S-300 surface to-air missile systems to Syria following the Western strikes, but this was not discussed at the meeting with Assad, agencies reported.

The allied attack set off a fierce worldwide debate about whether it was justified.

Britain and France joined the United States in the strikes in a coordinated operation that was meant to show Western resolve in the face of what the leaders of the three nations called persistent violations of worldwide law.

Russian Federation had also proposed a draft resolution condemning the US-initiated strikes of Syria which was only supported by China and Bolivia.