WASHINGTON – Western powers have carried out their biggest attack yetagainst the Syrian regime but analysts say the strikes were a mostly”punitive” measure that will not change the course of the conflict.

Exactly a week after a suspected chemical attack that medics say killeddozens of civilians in the rebel town of Douma, the United States, Franceand Britain acted on their retaliation threats.

Warships, fighters jets and cruise missiles were used in the coordinatedoperation that struck military infrastructure and sites allegedly used todevelop and manufacture chemical weapons.

US President Donald Trump hailed the operation as “perfectly executed” butanalysts stressed its scope was limited and Syrian President Basharal-Assad’s military strength remained virtually intact.

“This is punitive, a disciplinary measure. The message carried by thestrikes is more political than military,” said Sasha al-Alou, a Syriaexpert at the Turkey-based Omran think tank.

Paris said that Moscow, the main ally of Damascus, had been warned of thestrikes.

And the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor,said the targeted sites had been evacuated before the missiles struckbefore dawn on Saturday.

“The goal was mainly political: it was to bring back deterrence and showthe Syrian regime it no longer had impunity,” said Bruno Tertrais, from theFoundation for Strategic Research, a French think tank.

– Avoiding an escalation –

A year ago, 59 US cruise missiles had been fired at a regime base innorthern Syria in response to a sarin gas attack that had killed more than80 civilians.

“The balance of power remains unchanged,” said Karim Bitar, from theParis-based Institute of International and Strategic Affairs.

“All Russian sites were carefully avoided. The West wanted to avert anescalation and all-out conflict,” he added.

The Western strikes will do little to slow the military reconquest which,with backing from Russia and Iran, has seen Assad reclaim more than half ofSyrian territory.

The use of chemical weapons, such as chlorine, sparks internationalindignation but is far from being the most lethal weapon in the regime’sarsenal.

“What is the benefit of such an action by the West if it does not yield theimmediate halting of all violence and crimes against the Syrian people,”said Raphael Pitti, a French doctor and activist.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 1,700civilians were killed in a two-month, Russian-backed assault to retakeEastern Ghouta, an area that stayed a rebel-held enclave on Assad’sdoorstep for five years.

Only a fraction of the victims are thought to have been killed by chemicalweapons. Most of them died under a rain of conventional bombs and missiles,as well as crude improvised munitions known as barrel bombs.

The main town in Eastern Ghouta, and the last to have escaped governmentcontrol, is Douma, the site of the alleged chemical attack on April 7 thatprompted the unprecedented Western reaction.

– ‘Slap on the wrist’ –

Damascus and Moscow dismissed the Douma deaths as a Western fabricationintended to justify military action against Assad.

“For all the sound and fury of these strikes, their net effect is a slap onthe wrist of Bashar al-Assad,” said Nick Heras, an analyst at the Centerfor a New American Security.

“Horrific as Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons has been, thesetypes of weapons are not what gives Assad his decisive advantages on thebattlefield,” he said.

Heras explained that their usefulness for Damascus was dwarfed by that ofRussia’s aerial might, the manpower offered by Iran-backed militias orruthless siege tactics.

Analysts agreed that the nature of the strikes was unlikely to cause amajor escalation between the seven-year conflict’s major foreign brokers.

They said Saturday’s strikes may however lead to limited flare-ups on theground, between these big players’ respective proxies, including attacksagainst the US-backed Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria.

“The most effective way for the Assad government to respond is by targetingUS partner forces, especially the Syrian Democratic Forces,” Heras said. -APP/AFP