On Thursday, US-led coalition forces launched an airstrike on Syrian pro-government troops near the town of al-Tanf in southern Syria claiming that they posed a threat to the US-backed forces. Fyodor Lukyanov, an expert in foreign affairs, analyzed how it might be connected with what is going on the US' domestic political arena. On May 18, the US-led coalition struck pro-Assad fighters near the town of al-Tanf in the vicinity of an established safe zone protected by Russia. The US military later claimed that they posed a threat to US-backed forces in the country's south near the Jordan border. This was the second time that Donald Trump administration has used military force directly against Damascus. On April 6, US Navy destroyers fired 59 cruise missiles at the Ash Sha'irat Airbase in western Syria, calling their attacks a "warning" to Damascus following a chemical weapons incident in Idlib province which Washington claimed was carried out by the Syrian government forces. The claim was rejected by Damascus. The world is still waiting for the US and its allies to provide any proof for its claims of Syrian government involvement in the alleged chemical attack. The chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign Affairs and Defense Policy, Fyodor Lukyanov has commented on the attack, noting that after April's attack, the pressure on Donald Trump over his alleged "ties with Russia" immediately dwindled. At the time, the strike was hailed by both the Republicans and the Democrats. For the last ten days, however, dark clouds have formed once again over Trump's head after his dismissal of ex-FBI head James Comey and his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the White House. The firing of James Comey on May 9 has caused a real headache for the White House. On Tuesday, The New York Times reported on a leaked memo from the former FBI head where he wrote that President Trump asked him to shut down the federal investigation into Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February. James Comey has agreed to testify publicly in Congress after Memorial Day (May 29) and will almost certainly face questions surrounding the circumstances of his dismissal. The Washington Post has also muddied the waters by reporting that President Trump had disclosed to Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak secret information about a terror threat involving laptops on airplanes, which could inflict serious damage to the national security of the US. All the above has only intensified the calls for Trump's impeachment. Sputnik observer Vladimir Ardaev recalled Lukyanov's comments, suggesting that if the buzz around Donald Trump goes down once again now, it might be an indication of a real connection between the US domestic political developments and Syrian bombings. "The recipe is right: in order to conciliate his opponents, Trump should only give an order to strike Syria once again," he stated in his article for Sputnik. Source URL |
