US
President Donald Trump left his European allies high and dry on
Thursday as he signalled a last-minute swerve away from bombing
Syria.
British
Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and
German Chancellor Angela Merkel were left looking like turkeys after
Mr Trump blinked in his game of chicken with Russia.
“Never
said when an attack on Syria would take place,” Mr Trump tweeted
early on Thursday morning, Washington time. “Could be very soon or
not so soon at all!”
The
three European leaders had backed military action over dubious claims
― by the US-British funded and founded 'White Helmets' ― of a
chemical weapons attack on the Army of Islam terrorist group's
stronghold in Douma, a few miles northeast of the capital Damascus.
In
the same tweet, Mr Trump abruptly shifted focus to the near-total
defeat of Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq, in which Syrian,
Russian, Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces played a leading role.
“In any event, the United States, under my administration, has done
a great job of ridding the region of ISIS,” he added. “Where is
our 'Thank you America?'”
On
Thursday a team from the UN's Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) set off for Syria to examine the claims. The
Syrian Foreign Ministry warned Western powers were trying to “meddle
in its work,” while Russia said its forces guaranteed the mission's
safety.
Russian
military police entered the site of the alleged attack earlier this
week following the Army of Islam's surrender of Douma in return for
safe passage to the Turkish border.
Meanwhile,
US Defence Secretary General Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis admitted to
Congress that the Pentagon had no hard evidence the claimed attack
even happened, only the claims of pro-terrorist social media users.
“I
cannot tell you that we had evidence, even though we had a lot of
media and social media indicators that either chlorine or sarin were
used,” he told the House Armed Services Committee.
In
a cautionary note, he added that the strategic concern was: “How do
we keep this from escalating out of control, if you get my drift."
"We're
still assessing the intelligence, ourselves and our allies. We're
still working on this," Gen Mattis said, contradicting Mr
Macron's claim yesterday that “We have proof” the Syrian armed
forces used chlorine gas on Douma.
Asked
if France would join in with US aggression against Syria, he said
only: We will need to take decisions in due course.” But he added,
seemingly without irony: “Regimes that think they can do everything
they want, including the worst things that violate international law,
cannot be allowed to act.”
In London, Mrs May chaired a special cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, which she said agreed “on the need to take action” and that it was "highly likely" the Syrian government was responsible for the unconfirmed incident.
Ms
Merkel, while claiming it was “obvious” Syria had not destroyed
its chemical weapons as previously certified, said: “Germany will
not take part in possible military action.” But she added that
“everything is being done to send a signal that this use of
chemical weapons is not acceptable.”
In
recent days Mr Trump had talked up a repeat of last year's massive,
yet ineffective, attack with 59 cruise missiles on the pretext of a
similar claimed nerve gas attack on Khan Sheikhoun, a central town
still occupied by the al-Qaida affiliated Nusra Front, now branding
itself as Hetesh.
Russia
had threatened to shoot down any cruise missiles launched against
Syria, where it has a small air force, air defence and Spetsnaz
commando contingent. Most of the US missiles launched in last April's
attack never reached their targets, although Moscow was silent on
why.
“Get
ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and
'smart!',” Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday ― in a clear sop to the
powerful US arms industry. “You shouldn’t be partners with a gas
killing animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” he said, the
second time he had used the insult against elected Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad in a week.