The Syrian collapse: the view from Europe

Source: FOCUS


See also "Syrian collapse: view from Moscow" and "Syrian collapse: view from Israel"


Since the use of chemical weapons in the province of Huta near Damascus, the numbers of victimes which, according to various sources , amount from 600 to 1300 , the world has been in anticipation of the new turn of events in the Syrian conflict . "The Red Line" designated by U.S. President Barack Obama has been crossed. The U.S. military command has already stated that it awaits only the order of the American president to launch a military operation against the Syrian regime - all the necessary preparations have been completed. It remains an open question how in such a situation the Western allies will try to justify their actions in the eyes of the world from the point of view of international law. Which countries will be in the forefront of the possible military campaign? Experts from Germany and Switzerland shared their views on the current situation.

"In the context of international law, NATO cannot legitimize the use of violence, it can be only done by the United Nations", Markus Kaim from Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), Berlin, says. An exception to the UN Charter could be the need for self-defense of the alliance or the presence of the mandate of the Security Council of the UN. "Since they have neither one nor the other, any military action against Syria from the point of view of international law is problematic”, the German expert says. "For this reason, the U.S. is now trying by all means to compensate for the lack of legitimacy of their intentions . For this, they have two methods. First, the U.S. will align their intervention in a conflict with the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Syria and the use of chemical weapons. Second, they will try to create the broadest possible coalition of states that will participate in the operation or, at least , support it politically”, Kaim said.

The Swiss professor, head of the Institute for Strategic Studies in Wädenswil , Albert Stachel believes that, in addition to the United States, a possible operation of the Western Allies can be attended by only the UK and France . At the same time, he noted that the abilities of France are extremely limited. "At the moment we are talking about the use of sea-launched cruise missiles, which the French do not have. They have only air-launched cruise missiles. Accordingly, primarily it’s for the U.S. and the UK to decide”, the professor concluded.

"Other European countries will be confined to the political support because they do not have the necessary military capabilities, and reaching them quickly will not work. The acquisition and implementation of cruise missiles will take years. The war in Libya has demonstrated the situation in the armies of European countries , when after a short time after the start of operations France and Britain exhausted their bomb stocks", Stachel reminded. As for Germany, according to the expert, the Americans have to be content with only its political support. "They have no other options", he concluded.