Washington Post: Fears of a U.S.-Russia conflict recede as Trump, Moscow and Macron dial back the rhetoric
BEIRUT — Fears that a major war could be imminent eased across the Middle East on Thursday after a flurry of tweets and statements by world leaders that suggested they are looking for ways to de-escalate the tensions of recent days.
U.S.-led military strikes in retaliation for the Syrian government’s alleged use of chemical weapons against a Damascus suburb last weekend remained a distinct possibility, but there were indications that efforts to head off a confrontation between global powers were gathering momentum.
In Moscow, the Kremlin sought to tamp down fears of a conflict with the United States by signaling for the first time in days that it might not carry out threats to retaliate against a U.S. strike.
“We still believe that it is very necessary to avoid any steps which can trigger an escalation in tensions in Syria,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We believe that this could have a very destructive impact on the entire Syrian settlement.”
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WNU Editor: French President Macron has definitely dialed back his rhetoric .... Is Macron backing out of Syria air strikes? French President asks Putin to 'intensify' talks in phone call with Russian leader (Daily Mail/AFP). From my vantage point .... the momentum for a military strike is definitely receding. If this continues for the next few days .... there will be no military strike. Maybe the Russian ambassador to the U.N. is going to get his wish .... Russia counting on sober thinking among American politicians, military brass, says envoy (TASS).
7 comments:
They will do it, they are dialing it back now, only to hit them a week down the road, when they relax a bit. Keep them on their toes and nervous. Like Mattis said, his job is make other people have nightmares about what we are going to do. It will happen, some game playing will occur before then. IMHO
I think you meant to say is the momentum to launch an illegal attack receding.
America is a rouge state, rogue states fight illegal wars of aggression and actively support war crimes. Exhibits A and B are the Gaza border and Yemen.
I hope the violence is dialed back. The US is finished policing the Middle East, just look at our oil reserves and then our Federal and State public debt. Trump's instincts to leave are right, but not until the Kurds are given the tools to defend themselves from the terror regimes out there such as Turkey and Iran.
Syria is a rogue state.
It level Hama in 1982.
It assassinated the Lebanese Prime Minister. It interfered or directed Lebanese affairs for 3 decades or more.
It had prison to cage political prisoners the like of which would make Castro proud.
The Arab Spring happened and in Syria it was brutally put down, which is why we have a civil war.
Syria is a rogue state getting help from rogue states.
The USS Harry S. Truman battle group left Norfolk on 11 April. This is the largest naval force since the Iraq invasion being sent towards Syria. It won’t arrive for another 3 weeks so I don’t expect an attack until end of this month. The USN guys really dropped the ball by not having assets nearby Syria for this scenario.
The USN guys really dropped the ball by not having assets nearby Syria for this scenario.
Anon
It is not only the Navy, but also the intelligence community, and the NSC who advises President Trump on these matters. The NSC is under Bolton right now, so there is going to be some changes.
To send a battle group anywhere is a 3 to 5 year process.
There are many exercises and inspections.
It does not mean that things cannot be changed on the fly or hurried up, but then that also means shortcutting things. In some part the accidents that happened in the Pacific are not the fault of the sailors on the ship but of the lack of training and the ops tempo.
A ship in dry dock can't obviously be put in the rotation. A ship coming out of dry dock has many inspection and it will be months before it is put in the rotation.
I won't credit Bolton with fixing things nor his predecessor with messing them up. Some thing has to be shown beside there was not a ship there. You divide the true carriers by 2. So you have about 5 carriers per ocean. One will be in dry dock. The rest will be on station, in work ups or for a home port period.
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