Listen to Discussion
As attention moved on Wednesday night from the Assad regime’s chemical attack in northwest Syria to a possible international response, I spoke at length with Monocle 24’s The Daily.
First, I dissected the “surreal” propaganda of the regime and Russia to set out the reality of the bombing — probably with a hybrid of a nerve agent and chlorine — that killed more than 100 people and injured hundreds in the town of Khan Sheikhoun.
Then presenter Emma North and I considered the shift in US rhetoric towards President Assad, and whether this will mean effective action by Washington, other countries, and the UN.
See also Syria Daily, April 6: Will Trump Administration Act Over Assad’s Chemical Attack?
Syria Daily, April 5: Assad Regime’s Chemical Attack Kills 100+
Listen to discussion from 2:47:
We know that Russia will initially resist pressure to remove Assad. So the question is whether the US will join France, the UK, and many other countries for a political resolution that makes sure that Assad cannot carry out these acts….
We have to accept an unusual reality here, which is that President Trump won’t make the key decision. I know he is nominally in charge, but I don’t think he has a grasp of the issues. What we are asking is whether the national security establishment — the National Security Council, the Pentagon, working with Nikki Haley — takes the initiative.
TOP PHOTO: Father Abdul Hamid Youssef on a bus to bury his twins Ayia and Ahmed, killed with 16 other family members in Tuesday chemical weapons attack