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We can summarise the official results of the “decisive” attack by Western countries on Syria. Russia proposed a resolution to condemn the attack at the UN Security Council. Three permanent Security Council members (who participated in the attack) vetoed it, so the resolution failed. In the world of real facts, we can generally establish the figures… the attackers launched 103 rockets. True, US President Donald Trump promised that they’d be “new and smart”, but most of them were elderly Tomahawks. As they approached strategically important facilities, elderly Syrian air defence systems developed by the Soviets precisely to counter Tomahawks shot them down. The British fired eight SCALP standoff weapons, “each was five metres in length”, the BBC proudly noted. In addition, they’re newer weapons, developed only twenty years ago. The role of the French remains unclear… the French leadership asserted that they also released eight SCALP weapons from fighters and three from ships. However, the Russian forces dryly pointed up that they detected no French Rafales. Therefore, it’s possible that this US ally received credit for participation without actually acting… to maintain the unity of the coalition.
As for damage, most weapons strikes hit unoccupied buildings in Damascus and Homs Governorates, that is, confirmed strikes that hit targets in Syria. Otherwise, despite the surprise of the attack and the fact (heavily stressed by US officials) that “that we didn’t warn Russia”:
- There were no civilian deaths
- There were no deaths in the Syrian Arab Army (SAA)
- The strike destroyed no aircraft or helicopters
- No aircraft or weapons system flew into the zone of responsibility of Russian air defence systems
- No weapon hit any Syrian airbase
- Syrian defences shot down 71 of the 103 attacking systems
The actual effect was even less effective than that of the attack on the Shayrat airbase a year ago. Then, 59 Tomahawks managed to at least:
- Damage a few aircraft
- Crater the taxiways, putting the airfield out of action for several hours
- Kill several Syrian troops
That’s the end of the facts, as a group of experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons arrived in Syria only a few hours after the raid. They were there to establish whether anything happened at all to justify the resolute US “response” and to find out exactly happened in Douma. Therefore, the real battle unfolded after the attack, and as expected in our strange era, it happened in the media space. A struggle began around the question of how to understand what happened.
Donald Trump, Theresa May, and Emmanuel Macron insisted that it was a vigorous and accurate retaliatory blow. They stated that they achieved their goals… they asserted that it dramatically reduced the ability of sneering monster Assad to produce chemical weapons to poison his people. Moreover, if he tries again, then, another equally devastating strike will recur, despite Russian objections, because the time for negotiations is over. The Western media wasn’t convinced that it was a forceful and severe consequence. For example, the Huffington Post bitterly stated:
- Trump’s stated objectives were to stop “Assad’s murderous behaviour and show his strength to Assad’s patrons Russia and Iran”, but it achieved none of those goals.
- At the time of the attack, all significant military and administrative targets were under the Russian “umbrella”, which Trump was afraid to touch.
- In the end, Assad “didn’t stop the offensive” and “it didn’t challenge Russia”.
In an editorial comment “The Main Danger in Syria is Russia”, Reuters reported:
- Assad has already almost won the six-year war and doesn’t intend to stop.
- Moscow, warning in advance that “in the event of a threat to the lives of Russian troops, we won’t only take out any missiles, we’ll also take out their carriers”, turned this action of unrestrained justice into something purposeless. Because, the author notes, neither Russia nor the USA is interested in a real battle between themselves in Syria. Moreover, they aren’t interested even in showing each other their newest missiles and anti-missile systems… why feed the enemy information? Therefore, the same iron hoplites of the Cold War from the last millennium fought over the deserts and mountains of an ancient country.
- There was no success in the end. Even worse… even though it’s clear that the USA can deploy many ships off Syria, including an aircraft carrier, all that it did was to fire off a lot of old missiles. However, it’s not so much a demonstration of force as “a demonstration of the impossibility of demonstrating strength”. As per usual, Russia “held a master class on how to achieve maximum goals with limited forces”.
That is, Russia, even without a single volley from its S-400 and Pantsir systems, effectively established a situation where the West didn’t dare to test its resolve. Note that this wasn’t a report by “Russian state propaganda trying to preserve the Kremlin’s face”. This is what authoritative British-American media saw. However, other authoritative Western media outlets trumpet and disseminate the version asserted by Trump, May, and Macron… “A bloody tyrant received a lesson; if necessary, we can repeat it”, and so on. All this confirms the depressing analysis we stated on the eve of the attack:
In fact, the only understandable explanation of what’s happening is some accursed universal hype, from which the Western élite can’t escape in any way. Moreover, it seems that no one wants real results from the anticipated strike. It seems that the Western leaders themselves would be satisfied with inflicting a crushing blow in a virtual-reality game, having the opportunity then to convince their audience that the enemy suffered heavy losses.
As a result, we see a schizophrenic picture. Based on unconfirmed viral videos, real aircraft took off and the Western forces fired real weapons. According to various estimates, the strike cost 70 to 150 million real-world USD (4.29 to 9.2 billion Roubles. 439.72 to 942.27 million Renminbi. 4.58 to 9.82 billion INR. 88 to 188.62 million CAD. 90.18 to 193.24 million AUD. 56.53 to 121.14 million Euros. 48.82 to 104.6 million UK Pounds). However, in the real world, this mega-strike didn’t hurt anyone. Moreover, in fact, it was necessary only to ensure that in a virtual world (where hype, tweets, and media exchange interpretations) someone convinced his audience that he had a good reason for this action.
It’s gratifying that the leadership of the USA and their subordinate allies still keep their internal media vids separated from harsh reality. They hold a “celebration of defiance of Russia” in specially designated places for this purpose. However, this is what it comes to. The next generation of Western leaders can no longer distinguish between where PR ends and a real war begins. Moreover, this makes the real world all the less safe and increasingly alarming.
15 April 2018
Viktor Marakhovsky
RIA Novosti
https://ria.ru/analytics/20180415/1518678200.html
Voices from Russia 
Macron Emphasises “We Must Follow” All Inked Agreements… Even Iran Deal
Tags: diplomacy, diplomatic relations, Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, EU, European Union, Iran, Iran's nuclear program, political commentary, politics, Sanctions against Iran, United States, USA
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On Friday, during a plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), French President Emmanuel Macron stated that all parties must honour signed accords, including the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear programme:
In 2015, Iran and six major powers (Russia, the USA, France, the UK, China, and Germany) agreed on a final Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which particularly stipulated the removal of sanctions imposed on Tehran. In turn, Iran would limit its nuclear programme and submit it to international supervision. On 8 May, Trump announced that Washington was pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. He said that the USA would restore previous sanctions against Iran and introduce new ones in case Tehran attempted to pursue its nuclear ambitions. In the wake of Trump’s decision, the leaders of the UK, Germany, and France called on other participants of the deal to continue their commitments to it. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran wouldn’t abandon the JCPOA and would continue to comply with its obligations, as long as the agreement takes into account Iran’s interests. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed disappointment in Trump’s decision and called it a front for the USA to settle its political scores with Iran.
25 May 2018
TASS
http://tass.com/world/1006600