Analyst, Syrian opposition figure share mixed reaction to U.S. attack on Syria

Record ID: 559723

  • Title: Analyst, Syrian opposition figure share mixed reaction to U.S. attack on Syria
  • Date: 7th April 2017
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (APRIL 7, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION FOREIGN POLICY SENIOR FELLOW, SAYING: "So the Russians consider us very cynical and duplicitous on international law and they're not going to miss the opportunity to strike back. I don't think we necessarily have to view this as a particularly sincere or profound Russian critique, but it's sort of a tit for tat, back and forth, debating the merits of this sort of thing. And I also don't think it has to preclude Russian-American cooperation going forward on Syria. Both countries have some core interests, and both of those interests would be well-served by finding a way to end this war. And so if we can collaborate I think we can have this dust up over a disagreement about legality of the of the Trump action put behind us pretty quickly. But that's going to require a sincere effort by both sides to look for a new strategy which so far we haven't come up with."
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2017 20:39
  • Keywords: Michael E. O’Hanlon Syria Reuters attack U.S. President Donald Trump Syrian opposition figure Bassma Kodmani Brookings
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES; AT SEA
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES; AT SEA
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA0046BEK7D3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon described the U.S. launch of dozens on missiles on a Syrian airbase as "justifiable" but on "uncertain legal foundation."
    "The United States had the right to intervene both to essentially exercise retribution against those Syrian violations, and to protect our standard; the nonuse of weapons of mass destruction, which Trump sees as crucial to American security, no matter where it might happen," the foreign policy expert told Reuters Video News in Washington on Friday (April 7).
    The U.S. military launched dozens of Tomahawk missiles from the USS Porter and USS Ross warships in the Mediterranean Sea that hit the airstrip, aircraft and fuel stations of the Shayrat air base, which the Pentagon says was used to store chemical weapons.
    The American strikes were in reaction to what Washington says was a poison gas attack by the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad this week that killed at least 70 people in rebel-held territory.
    Bassma Kodmani, a members of the Syrian Opposition's High Negotiations Committee in Washington for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Reuters the attack struck "a legitimate target." Kodmani said the missile launch struck an airbase responsible for a sarin gas attack that killed at least 70 Syrians. "If that is not a legitimate target I don't know what is," she said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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