WASHINGTON – *The United States, Britain and France carried out a wave ofpunitive strikes against Bashar al-Assad´s Syrian regime on Saturday inresponse to alleged chemical weapons attacks that President Donald Trumpbranded the “crimes of a monster.”*

As Trump embarked on a White House address to announce the action — takenin defiance of Russia´s threat to respond — explosions were heard in theSyrian capital Damascus, signalling a new chapter in a brutalseven-year-old civil war.

AFP´s correspondent in the city said several consecutive blasts were heardat 4:00 am (PST 6:00 am), followed by the sound of airplanes overhead.Smoke could be seen rising from the northern and eastern edges of thecapital.

“A short time ago, I ordered the United States armed forces to launchprecision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weaponscapabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,” Trump said, in aprime-time address.

“A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the UnitedKingdom is now under way. We thank them both,” Trump added.

“This massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemicalweapons use by that very terrible regime,” he said of the suspected deadlygas attack a week ago on the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma.

“The evil and the despicable attack left mother and fathers, infants andchildren thrashing in pain and gasping for air. These are not the actionsof a man. They are crimes of a monster instead.”

*´Heavy strike´*

General Joseph Dunford, Washington´s top general, said the precisionstrikes hit three targets — a scientific research centre near Damascus, astorage facility and command post also near the capital and a chemicalweapons storage facility near Homs.

He added that Syrian surface to air missile batteries had attempted to fireback, but there were no initial reports of any allied losses.

It was a marked escalation in force compared to a US strike launched a yearago, when only cruise missiles were used against a single airfield.

Dunford said Russia´s forces in Syria had been warned through existing”deconfliction” channels that western planes would be in Syrian air space,but that Washington had not revealed the target sites or timing in advance.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said no additional strikes were planned unlessAssad again uses chemical weapons.

“We were very precise and proportionate, but at the same time, it was aheavy strike,” he said.

*United front*

Trump also warned Russia and Iran not to stand by their ally in Damascus.

“Russia must decide if it will continue down this dark path or if it willjoin with civilised nations as a force for stability and peace,” he argued.

The strikes had been expected since footage surfaced of the aftermath ofthe attack in Douma, which prompted a furious reaction from Trump.

Trump´s anger and apparent determination was quickly matched by France´sPresident Emmanuel Macron, who signed his country up for a joint response.

“We cannot tolerate the normalisation of the use of chemical weapons,”Macron said in a statement.

Britain´s Prime Minister Theresa May was more cautious, but by the time thefirst precision cruise missile was launched, Trump had a mini-coalition.

“We cannot allow the use of chemical weapons to become normalized – withinSyria, on the streets of the UK, or anywhere else in our world,” May said,referring to a recent assassination attempt on a Russian double agent.

*´Proof´*

In the days between the attack in Douma and the US-led response, Washingtonand Moscow clashed repeatedly in duelling press statements and US debates.

Moscow denied its ally Assad had any role in the outrage, pushing a varietyof alternative theories that peaked with a claim that Britain had stagedthe event.

More practically, at the United Nations, Russia´s diplomats vetoed a USmotion to re-establish an international investigation into chemical weaponsuse in Syria that could have established blame.

Washington, Paris and London have nevertheless insisted that their ownsecret intelligence points to Assad´s guilt, and on Friday, a USspokeswoman said they had “proof.”

The western leaders apparently found this convincing enough reason tolaunch a punitive strike, but other observers are concerned that the crisiscould escalate.

The Russian military had vowed to respond to any attack, and RussianPresident Vladimir Putin´s administration had repeatedly warned that Trumpwas taking America down a dangerous path.

After the strikes, Moscow´s ambassador to the United States, AnatolyAntonov, said: “We warned that such actions would not be left withoutconsequences.”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday had warned therival camps against “full-blown military escalation” and stressed the needto “avoid the situation spiralling out of control.” – APP /AFP