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Theresa
May moves closer to military action against Assad in response to
chemical weapons attack
26
November, 2014
President
Donald Trump has warned Syria and its ally Russia that missiles “will
be coming” as Theresa May made preparations for Britain to join US
airstrikes against the Assad regime.
The
US President used his favoured medium of Twitter to announce his
intentions, saying: “Get ready Russia” for missiles that would be
“nice and new and ‘smart!’”
The
Daily Telegraph has learnt that Mrs May has ordered British
submarines to move within missile range of Syria in readiness for
strikes against the Assad regime that could begin as early as
Thursday night.
The
Prime Minister has recalled ministers from their Easter break to
attend an emergency Cabinet meeting on Thursday afternoon at which
she will discuss how Britain should respond to last Saturday’s
chemical attack on Douma, Eastern Ghouta.
The
Cabinet is expected to back Mrs May in joining US-led airstrikes, but
Whitehall sources said there would still need to be “further
conversations” with the US and France before a final decision could
be taken, and that no timetable for potential airstrikes had yet been
agreed.
Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!
Russia vows to shoot down
any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they
will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be
partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys
it!
Mrs
May hardened her stance towards Syria as she said the UK, US and
France were “rapidly reaching” a clear picture of who was
responsible for last Saturday’s chemical attack on Douma, Eastern
Ghouta.
Mrs
May said “all the indications are that the Syrian regime was
responsible”, adding: “The continued use of chemical weapons
cannot go unchallenged.”
Sources
indicated to the Telegraph that Mrs May has now abandoned any
intentions of seeking the backing of Parliament - which does not sit
until Monday - for military action.
There
are reports that President Bashar al-Assad has already started moving
aircraft and vehicles away from air bases that are likely to be
targeted, and both Mr Trump and President Emmanuel Macron of France
have stressed the need to act swiftly.
Whitehall
sources said any military action was expected to take place before
Monday, and by gaining the backing of her Cabinet Mrs May will clear
the last domestic obstacle standing in the way of British
participation.
Jeremy
Corbyn, the Labour leader, said Parliament should be given a say on
British involvement in airstrikes, but there is no legal requirement
to do so as committing the Armed Forces to action is covered by Royal
prerogative.
Mr
Trump’s tweets, which dramatically intensified tensions over Syria,
appeared to be a response to earlier comments by Alexander Zasypkin,
the Russian ambassador to Lebanon, who warned that: “If there is an
American strike, then we... will shoot down the missiles and target
the positions from where they were launched.”
Mr
Trump responded by tweeting: “Russia vows to shoot down any and all
missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be
coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ You shouldn’t be partners
with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”
He
also said that: “Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it
has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. There is no reason for
this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that
would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together.
Stop the arms race?”
Mrs
May, on a visit to Birmingham, said: "We are working with our
allies, we have been working to get an understanding of what happened
on the ground. We are rapidly reaching that understanding.
"All
the indications are that the Syrian regime was responsible and we
will be working with our closest allies on how we can ensure that
those who are responsible are held to account and how we can prevent
and deter the humanitarian catastrophe that comes from the use of
chemical weapons in the future.
"The
continued use of chemical weapons cannot go unchallenged."
She
said she was “appalled” but “not surprised” by Russia's
decision to veto a draft resolution at the United Nations on Tuesday
which sought to create a new body to determine responsibility for the
attack.
"There
can be no role now for investigations by the United Nations,"
Mrs May added.
Soon
after the tweets, Russia's foreign ministry said that "smart
missiles should fly towards terrorists, not legal government".
Spokeswoman
Maria Zakharova questioned whether the idea behind military action
was to "use the smart missiles to sweep the traces of the
provocation under the rug".
Politicians
in Moscow condemned Mr Trump's “light-minded” tweet and warned
against any damage to Russian positions in Syria.
Yury
Shvytkin, a member of the parliamentary committee for defence and
security, told state media that Russia would “defend its troops”
in Syria despite Mr Trump's “hysteria”.
Senator
Konstantin Kosachyov said after Mr Trump's tweet that it was
“terrifying” that he controlled the US arsenal and was “ready
to deploy it for reasons that are absolutely fake”.
Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race?
May
orders British submarines to get in place for airstrikes
Theresa
May has ordered British submarines in the Mediterranean to move
within missile range of Syria in readiness for strikes against the
Assad regime by the end of this week.
Whitehall
sources told The Daily Telegraph that Britain was “doing everything
necessary” to be able to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles from
nuclear-powered submarines against military targets in Syria.
One
source said that “if any action is going to happen, it is going to
happen before Monday”.
As
of Wednesday night, Mrs May had not come to a final decision on
whether Britain would join the US and France in any air strikes, but
the Prime Minister wants to be able to act swiftly if and when she
decides to join any offensive.
The
Royal Navy has three Astute class submarines that could be heading
towards Syria - HMS Ambush, HMS Artful and HMS Astute. Their Tomahawk
IVs have a range of 1,000 miles, meaning the subs would need to lie
off the coast of Syria, Lebanon or Israel while awaiting the order to
strike. Each submarine can carry 38 missiles.
The
alternative would be to send one of three Trafalgar class attack
submarines that have been in service since the Cold War, which can
carry up to 30 missiles.
A
Whitehall source said: “We are moving subs in, we are doing
everything necessary operationally to do that.
“If
any action is going to happen it is going to happen before Monday
because once you start having a debate about it, it will be very
difficult for Number 10 to do anything.”
Mrs
May is understood to have resolved herself to the fact that any
decision to join allied air strikes would have to be taken by the
Cabinet rather than by Parliament, as delaying action will give Syria
the chance to move its military assets near to Russian hardware,
making it harder for the US or UK to get a clean strike.
There
was already evidence on Wednesday of Syria trying to move its
aircraft out of range. Opposition groups said the Syrian regime was
shifting military vehicles away from its airbase in Hama, a potential
target for American cruise missiles.
Activists
also said Hizbollah, the Lebanese militant group supporting the Assad
regime, was clearing its own positions near the T4 airbase in central
Syria. Israeli jets reportedly struck the T4 base on Sunday night,
killing 14 people, including seven Iranians.
European
air traffic controllers on Wednesday issued a "rapid alert"
for airlines in the Eastern Mediterranean over the possibility of air
strikes into Syria within the next 72 hours.
The
European Aviation Security Agency, which receives intelligence
reports from classified sources, warned of possible launches of
air-to-ground strikes or cruise missiles in the area.
The
US does not have an aircraft carrier in the area yet, meaning strikes
would have to be launched from the USS Donald Cook or the USS Porter,
two US Navy destroyers already in the Mediterranean. The Donald Cook
departed Larnaca, Cyprus, on Monday after completing a scheduled port
visit, Navy officials said.
The
Donald Cook is one of four Arleigh Burke-class guided missile
destroyers that generally serve Europe and are part of a NATO
rotation. Either ship can be used to launch multiple cruise missiles
at sites in Syria.
The
US Central Command has been updating lists of possible military and
government targets in Syria, including aircraft hangars, ammunition
depots and command headquarters. Defence officials said one
possibility was to render Syrian airfields incapable of being used in
the future to launch chemical attacks.
In
the coming days, the USS Harry S Truman, a nuclear-powered aircraft
carrier, is scheduled to head to the region with a complement of
strike and reconnaissance aircraft on board and surface warships
sailing alongside.
Satellite
photos of the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria showed all 11
Russian battleships have left Syria.
Open-source
flight tracking information revealed that a US navy P-8A Poseidon was
in the air south of Cyprus, near the Syrian coast, on Wednesday.
Interfax news agency reported a Nato surveillance plane was circling
the northern border of Syria in Turkish airspace.
Also from the Telegraph
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