[Peace-discuss] Mort's Letter in NG

[Boyle, Francis A]

https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201804211063771292-trump-syria-agression-forestate/

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russia appears ready to lift its self-imposed ban on selling S-300 air defense systems to Syria as fears grow that the United States and its allies are massing their forces to attack the country again, analysts said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Sputnik on Friday that Moscow was no longer bound by a moral duty not to supply Damascus with S-300 air defense missile systems after last week's Western strikes on Syria.

Supplying those weapons will contribute to the political stability of the Syrian government, Samer Shiha, a member of the Syrian People's Assembly, told Sputnik later in the day.

On April 13, the United States, assisted by France and the United Kingdom, fired 105 missiles at targets in Syria, while the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman and its task force are currently sailing toward the Eastern Mediterranean.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
(c) Sputnik / Maksim Blinov

EXCLUSIVE: Putin, Trump Will Never Allow US-Russia Armed Conflict, Lavrov Says Washington said the strike was in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Douma and blamed the Syrian government - but also Russia and Iran - for the incident.

The Syrian government said it had not used chemical weapons and the incident was staged by the Jaish al-Islam terror group to pave the way for a foreign intervention in Syria.

US PREPARING TO LAUNCH MORE ATTACKS ON SYRIA

The missile strike against targets in Syria last week seems to be a prelude to additional attacks, University of Illinois Professor of International Law Francis Boyle cautioned.

"It sounds like they will do it again," Boyle said. "The carrier strike force heading there: It should be there later this week. Why is the Truman heading over there right now at flank speed? It doesn't look good."

Boyle pointed out that the readiness of the United States and its allies to launch last week's strike against Syria before undertaking any real investigation into who actually carried out the April 7 chemical attack in Douma encouraged all the jihadi groups in Syria to launch more such attacks.

"[The strikes were] basically an invitation to aggressive jihad groups to stage another chemical weapons attack," Boyle said. "This was not a one off affair, as [Secretary of Defense James] Mattis claimed... It is a very dangerous situation."

Boyle noted that the attack on Syria violated the terms of United Nations Charter and was a crime against international law.

Also, "Under US constitutional law it clearly violates Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution. It is an impeachable offense: It contravenes US Army Field Manual 27-10 The Law of Land Warfare," he said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad giving an interview. File photo (c) AFP 2018 / HO/SANA

Assad Returns Legion of Honour Award to 'US Slave' France After Strikes on Syria The April 13 US bombing of Syria came as US President Donald Trump faced a new round of controversy over the accusations against him made by former FBI Director James Comey in his new book "A Higher Loyalty.."

"Why did Trump bomb on [April 13]? What was the rush? Trump knew full well Comey was publishing his memoirs: So he bombed. President [Bill] Clinton did exactly the same thing during the Monica Lewinsky matter in 1998. Barbara Ehrenreich then called it 'The Bimbo Bombings,'" he said.

Boyle predicted Trump was likely to resort again to bombing Syria in his efforts to distract the US public from Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation into his affairs.

"I am afraid we will probably be seeing more bombing by Mr. Trump as the whole Mueller-gate matter is not going away... It is important to understand the danger here Trump is in the same situation as Clinton. The danger is not past. Syria could become the Sarajevo of 1914," Boyle said.

However, Trump's political opponents and war hawks wanted to push the president into more strikes against the Damascus government, Boyle warned.

"It does seem to me that they are using the Mueller investigation to pressure Trump to attack Syria," he said.

US RUNNING RISKS OF 1914 SARAJEVO-STYLE ESCALATION
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Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (phone)
217-244-1478 (fax)
(personal comments only)

From: Boyle, Francis A
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2018 7:30 AM
To: Peace-discuss List (peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net) <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
Subject: Mort's Letter in NG

Yeah Mort has a good letter in today's NG. As I said in my previous post, Syria could become Sarajevo 1914. I have been to that square there in the work I did for the Bosnians. Also gave me a tour of their front lines for their own war/genocide. Fab.

Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (phone)
217-244-1478 (fax)
(personal comments only)

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