Syria crisis: countries prepare for ‘intervention’

Countries including France and the UK held security meetings on Wednesday to discuss the options available in dealing with Syria, following claims the Assad regime has used chemical weapons against civilians.

In the UK, David Cameron convened a meeting of the National Security Council, a meeting of key cabinet ministers and security chiefs. Mr Cameron said on Twitter that the council had agreed the world “should not standby” after the “unacceptable” use of chemical weapons.

The NSC agreed unanimously that the use of chemical weapons by Assad was unacceptable – and the world should not stand by.

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) August 28, 2013

The meeting follows the drafting, by the UK, of a resolution to be put before the UN Security Council later on Wednesday. The resolution seeks the backing of the Security Council for “all necessary measures to protect civilians” – including military intervention.

It is a symbol of the growing certainty from various global powers that Bashar al-Assad is behind the Damascus chemical weapons attack that it has been reported killed as many as 1,729 people.

We believe it’s time the UN Security Council shouldered its responsibilities on Syria. William Hague

Syria’s government has repeatedly denied it used chemical weapons, and on Wednesday the West needed to stop encouraging “terrorists”. Syria has also asked the UN weapons inspectors currently in Damascus to investigate rebel attacks in which, it says, Syrian soldiers inhaled poisonous gas.

The US and the UK are both expected to release the evidence that they say will prove Assad’s culpability in the 21 August attack. A US publication, Foreign Policy, has also claimed that the US intercepted phone calls which prove the government was behind the attack.

Gary Gibbon blogs on Labour's unease over Syria intervention

The UK Parliament has been recalled to debate action in Syria on Thursday. However, Labour has said it can not lend its support to military intervention in Syria without a report from UN inspectors before a vote. Late on Wednesday Ed Miliband tweeted that a Labour amendment would “insist the Prime Minister must return to the Commons after the UN weapons inspectors have reported.”

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said on Wednesday that it would take the team of UN inspectors, currently visiting sites of the alleged Damascus attack, a further four days to report – rendering the prospect of a decisive decision on Thursday unlikely.

This confirms how dangerous the situation in Syria is and how important (it is) for the Syrians and the international community to really develop the political will to address this issue seriously. Lakhdar Brahimi, UN envoy

Additionally, the meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday is unlikely to see the UK’s resolution passed. Two of the five permanent members of the council, China and Russia, can both veto the resolution, and have both said they oppose military intervention in Syria.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday that he feared Russia and China would block the resolution, but that it was time to act.

“We believe it’s time the UN Security Council shouldered its responsibilities on Syria which for the last two and a half years it has failed to do,” he told reporters.

The issue then will be whether the path to follow is the Iraq-trodden route of acting without UN backing – and key to this will be the stances of the international community:

United Nations – give us more time

UN special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has said it looks as though a chemical agent was used in Damascus, but has not laid any blame for the attack.

We are prepared. We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfil and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel

“This (use of chemical weapons) was of course unacceptable,” Mr Brahimi said. “This is outrageous. This confirms how dangerous the situation in Syria is and how important (it is) for the Syrians and the international community to really develop the political will to address this issue seriously, and look for a solution for it.”

He said he was against military intervention because “enough people have already died” in the Syrian conflict.

UN chief Ban Ki-Moon urged both sides of the conflict to engage in a political solution to the crisis, saying: “Give peace a chance. Give diplomacy a chance. Stop fighting and start talking.”

USA – ready for war

With four destroyers within range of targets inside Syria, and warplanes in the region, the US is ready to launch a military strike of Syria, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Tuesday.

The US had laid the blame for the use of chemical weapons in Damascus at Assad’s door. Mr Hagel told the BBC that Barack Obama had asked the Pentagon for “all options for all contingencies” and that “we have done that”.

It would be premature, at the least, to discuss any Security Council reaction until the UN inspectors working in Syria present their report. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov

“We are prepared. We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfil and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take,” Mr Hagel said.

Reported leaks from US officials have suggested strikes by US forces will be “multi-day and multi-lateral”. The Times reported that the linitial list of targets includes fewer than 50 sites, and includes airbases where Syrian helicopters are deployed.

On Tuesday US Vice President Joe Biden became the highest ranking White House official to blame Assad for the use of chemical weapons, saying: “we know that the Syrian regime are the only ones who have the weapons, have used chemical weapons multiple times in the past, have the means of delivering those weapons, have been determined to wipe out exactly the places that were attacked by chemical weapons.”

Russia – too early to respond

Russia, Assad’s most powerful ally, has said that it suspects rebels may have carried out the attack in Damascus to provoke an international response. It has also been the main barrier to Western plans to intervene in the crisis.

Moscow is expected to block a UN Security Council resolution which would open up the potential options that could be used in the attack. Since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, Russia has used its veto power in the UN Security Council three times to block Western-backed resolutions condemning Assad and intended to press him to end the violence.

The reason Russia will block the latest resolution, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov is reported to have said, is that the members of the council should wait for the UN inspectors’ report.

“It would be premature, at the least, to discuss any Security Council reaction until the UN inspectors working in Syria present their report,” Russian news agency Interfax quoted Titov as saying.

China – not another Iraq

China has occupied the same position as Russia on the alleged chemical attack in Damascus – saying that the UN Security Council must wait for the report of UN inspectors.

However, it also warned on Wednesday against acting without the UN. The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, said the overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a decade ago on the pretext he had weapons of mass destruction risked repeating itself in Syria.

The intervention of supra-regional and foreign powers in one country will have no result other than lighting a fire and increase the hatred people have for them. Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei

“The essence of the Iraq war was to circumvent the United Nations and change the government of a sovereign nation with the aid of force,” the newspaper said. “The international community must be on high alert for certain foreign forces repeating this method in Syria.”

China has repeatedly blocked Western-backed UN Security Council resolutions and opposes “interference” or talk of “regime change” in Syria.

Iran – a disaster for the region

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is reported to have said on Wednesday that military intervention in Syria would be a “disaster for the region”.

The sheer horror of a government using chemical weapons against its people, using chemical weapons in any circumstances, mandates a response. Bob Carr, Australian foreign minister

“The intervention of supra-regional and foreign powers in one country will have no result other than lighting a fire and increase the hatred people have for them,” the ISNA agency quoted Khamenei as saying.

Iran has steadfastly supported the Assad government during the two-and-a-half-year conflict.

France – forceful response

France, one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, was one of the first countries to say force would be needed against the Syrian government if it was proved to have been behind the Damascus chemical attack.

On Wednesday, Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, said the government had taken the necessary steps to respond to the alleged attack.

“We are going to carry on monitoring the situation closely, hour-by-hour. There are lots of international consultations being made and the president of the republic will make the necessary decisions when the time comes.” Mr Fabius told reporters.

Australia – backing military action

Australia, which takes over the chair of the UN Security Council on Sunday, has said that action will need to be taken even if the Security Council fails to make a decision.

Foreign minister Bob Carr said on Wednesday: “We’re moving to a stage where America and like-minded countries are contemplating what sort of a response. Our preference, everyone’s preference, would be for action, a response, under United Nations auspices.

The meeting factions decided to carry out the ‘volcano of revenge’ invasion in response to the regime’s massacres. Al-Qaeda affiliate

“But if that’s not possible, the sheer horror of a government using chemical weapons against its people, using chemical weapons in any circumstances, mandates a response.”

Iraq – on high alert

Iraq puts its security forces on high alert on Wednesday ahead of an expected military strike on Syria, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.

Iraqi authorities are taking necessary measures to prevent “dangerous developments which may result from the Syrian crisis and the talk about an expected strike,” he said. Iraq has reinforced security along its 422 miles desert border with Syria, making it the most heavily guarded Iraqi frontier.

Iraq has experienced activity on both sides of the border from rebel groups, some of whom are linked to the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda – ‘volcano of revenge’

A branch of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaeda affiliate, has warned the Syrian government that it will carry out a “volcano of revenge” in response to “the regime’s massacres”.

“The meeting factions decided to carry out the ‘volcano of revenge’ invasion in response to the regime’s massacres against our people in Eastern Ghouta, the last of which was the chemical weapons massacre,” SITE quoted the statement, dated 26 August, as saying.

Israel – reinforced border

Israel held special military discussions on Wednesday, at which it is understood to have agreed a “limited” call-up of reserve troops.

Jordan will not be a launching pad for any military action against Syria. Mohammad Momani, Jordanian information minister

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet ordered the mobilisation, including civil-defence units and reservists in air and rocket-defence units, because of the increased threat of an attack from neighbouring Syria.

Turkey – most alert

Turkey has put its armed forces on alert to guard against threats from Syria, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday. “We are now at a more alert position … Turkey will take whatever measures necessary within the framework of its own strategic interests,” Mr Davutoglu said.

Jordan – not a launch pad

Jordan, in a statement likely to be intended to ease tensions with neighbouring Syria, has said it will not be used as a launch pad for attacks on Assad’s government.

The pro-US country has been accused on Syrian state radio of participating in US led aggression. Information minister Mohammad Momani said: “Jordan will not be a launching pad for any military action against Syria.”