On April 14, 2018, the United States and its allies—Britain and France—launched precision strikes on Syria which is one fully-recognized sovereign state by the United Nations. For the sake of legitimacy of their “aggression”, France claimed that the attacks were purely aimed at the chemical depots, Britain stated that it was not about intervening in civil war. And the U. S. President made a formal address in which, he said that Syrian dictator Bashar runs the very terrible regime that used chemical weapons against his own people, “a crime of one monster” as described by him.

What three powers said sounds good, but all they acted in a violation of international norms and practices, let alone the UN Charter. As the well-established nuclear powers and the permanent members of UN Security Council, the U.S., Britain and France openly despised the highest international organization and the expectation of the peoples over the world. In effect, just one day ago, Secretary-General Guterres already called for the creation of an independent panel that “could determine who used chemical weapons in Syria, as the absence of such a body increases the risks of a military escalation in a country already driven by confrontations and proxy wars.” Yet, three ruling powers which had launched wars against Iraqi, Libya and now Syria simply ignored the appealing from international community.

If we go through the message given by President Trump, it is evident to catch the points hinted as follows. First, sovereignty is no longer important as previously held. As long as you are deemed as “unfriendly” or the regime run by dictatorship, the United States and its allies should have responsibility to take “police actions” against it or directly or indirectly to replace it as did previously. What about the consequences of the “change of regime” in the country or the region? Sorry, that is not our business. The common practices and international norms are still valid, but all can be interpreted accordingly.

Second, the United States is the strongest economy in the world, and American warriors must carry on the duties globally. If any state or its leader is regarded as the potential threat, the United States joined by its allies has the capabilities to launch precision strikes on the targets associated with any global competitors. As the U.S. is the leader of the free world, other countries must make a clear choice either as a pawn or a victim. However, this time Germany and Japan openly rejected the demand from Washington. Third, the U.S. is not for its self-interest to take this kind of “police action”, and it has to do it simply because dictator always violates his own people’s rights, at times using savage chemical weapons to attack the innocent people. As the flagship of the world democracy and liberty, the U.S. has moral and legal rights and commitment to respond to these atrocities by Syria.

In contrary, the United States is a civilized nation; and alongside the other allies and friendly states, it makes all efforts to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons. This is a vital national security interest of the United States. Meanwhile, Trump tried to warn Iran and Russia with his iron hand in a velvet glove: “No nation can succeed in the long run by promoting rogue states, brutal tyrants, and murderous dictators.” Once again, the United States puts forward its own criterions as the only moral standards to judge who is good or bad guy. Given this, Trump pointed his fingers to President Putin by saying that 2013 Russian government promised the world that they would guarantee the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons. Assad’s recent attack — and today’s response — are the direct result of Russia’s failure to keep that promise. Evidences? No, sorry. Yet we believe what we said. What arrogance!
It is undisputed that the United States has a lot to o?er, with the greatest and most powerful economy in the history of the world. However, it is impossible for the world, at least most of the countries, to hold that three nuclear powers’ precision strikes against Syria was marshalling their righteous power against barbarism and brutality. The consequences are very unpredictable.

It can be perceived that first, the US and its allies set an irresponsible example to ignore the authorities of the United Nations. Second, they openly violated the international norms and laws, in particular the UN Charter (Article 2. 3) that writes clearly “All members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice are not endangered.” Third, their behavior resume or will soon resume the cold war mentality. As a matter of fact, the United States has directly or indirectly encouraged some of its so-called “regimes” to challenge the regional stability and peace or discouraged some countries which want to approach it for the regional peace and stability. As Kissinger put it 20 years ago, America exercises an unparalleled ascendancy around the world. Yet, at the apogee of its power, the United States finds itself in an ironic position. The United States should respect legitimate Russian security interests. For Russians, they see “a strong state” as a guarantor of order and the initiator and the main driving force of any changes.

Now, Trump and his conservative team just want to turn away this warning.

(Source: https://moderndiplomacy.eu/ )