With the world divided on the what may follow America’s dramatic missiles strike against the Syrian regime last night, foreign affairs minister Augusto Santos Silva has said: “Portugal understands” why President Trump ordered the attack but is essentially waiting for Europe and the United Nations to come to a united position.
With countries like Canada, UK, Jordan, Japan, Israel, Turkey, France and Germany welcoming the US missiles strikes, outgoing French president said they were “exactly what France had wanted after the 2013 chemical weapons attack at Gouta that killed at least 280 people”, says the Telegraph.
But France’s wishes were “scotched by a vacillating Barack Obama and a ‘no’ vote in the British parliament”.
Today, the government of Theresa May has said it “fully supports the US action” which it believes was “an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime (last Tuesday morning), and is intended to deter further attacks”.
Other media sources are less confident of this end result, saying one attack on a military base, no matter how devastating, may not change the course of a war that has been waged for so many years.
But one thing is certain, Portugal will only take a stand once reaction has been ‘rubber-stamped’ by Brussels and the United Nations.
Talking to reporters at a seminar in Lisbon today on Humanitarian Assistance and Civil Protection, Santos Silva said: “Portugal understands the positions of its allies which are positions that seeks forms of retaliation for war crimes”, he said.
“The international community has the right to retaliate against those that use illegal weapons of war, like chemical weapons”, he added - deftly side-stepping the fact that President Trump ordered last night’s attack without apparently waiting for any official acknowledgement from Congress, let alone the international community.
Santos Silva stressed that Portugal “would like to see the UN Security Council try and verify” who was responsible for the chemical weapons attack in Idlib province on Tuesday, and then take a decision over strong, legitimate action that could be taken in the name of the international community”.
But as the world saw today, an America under President Trump has no time for these kind of niceties.
President Trump gave the orders for the launch of 59 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles from warships in the Mediterranean, targeting Syrian fighter jets, hardened aircraft shelters, radar equipment, ammunition bunkers, sites for storing fuel and air defense systems, at Shayrat airfield near Homs, reports the BBC.
As he said in his announcement to the world late last night from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, this is the location from which the horrific attack that killed so many children was launched on Idlib on Tuesday.
Reports since President Trump’s announcement suggest nine civilians were killed in last night’s strikes - four of them children - as well as six soldiers.
By natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
Article by kind permission of Portugal Resident
Comments
So many "thumbs down" for the only clever comment... Sorry Lazlo, my fingers were quicker than my eyes when tipping: your comment shows you too haven't been brainwashed... Yeah, right, I really would like to know how many know about the REAL reason of the Syria war and the truth about the Goutha gas attack in 2013: even UN inspectors and the former boss Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations international criminal law tribunal Carla del Ponte said the sarin-attack came from the so called rebells and not from Assad's army (of course they removed her fromher "job" shortly afterwards...). This is really an orwellian world, who says the truth will be punished (see how whistle-blowers end up), who kills will be regarded... I guess we need another Noachian deluge to wash up all this scum!
Coincidentally the total anonymity and news blackout unwelcomely given to relatives reporting missing senile pensioners and 3 year old infants.
So many "thumbs down" for the only clever comment... that shows how people's mind has benn infected from imperialistic thoughts and acts - I completely agree with you, DW, and there are surely some more out there who do it too but I'm quite hopeless about the big majority: go on guzzling fast food, folks, watch TV, get drunk, you poor puppets don't need your brain, NWO thinks for you!
Globally? not far off $400 Billion last year. That's why.
That's just arms, don't forget the private security firms like G4S, they employ 600,000 people. Academi (you might remember them better from Iraq, when they were Blackwater), the whole private security industry is worth trillions.
So in your head sing to yourself, "War... Huh... What is it good for? Absolutely trillions, say it again..."
No conceivable benefit?
So, has anyone reported why this is all happening? Has it been reported anywhere that Syria rejected the idea of a second Gas pipeline to bring competition to the Gazprom pipeline already there? In a few years when the new pipeline is there you can all go, "Ooh, I remember reading about that in the ADN ages ago."
The business of war is just business as usual. Now for the added value benefit: How about the "Economic Zone" being created in Jordan for Syrian refugees? So we can have another cheap labour force to exploit.
Charming.
Sometimes I think it might just be better if we went the way of the dinosaurs.