I Am Syria's Response to President Donald Trump’s
​Airstrikes in Syria

April 7th 2017 - The recent decision by United States President Donald Trump to launch limited airstrikes against the Assad regime in Syria, comes after more than 6 years of atrocities perpetrated by the latter against his own people. President Assad’s atrocities were continually supported by his regional and international allies, especially Iran and Russia who in recent years have assisted in the killing of civilians in Syria.
 
The airstrikes themselves by the United States came specifically as a response to the Assad regime’s renewed use of chemical weapons against civilians on April 4th 2017 that killed an estimated 70 people, and injured hundreds more. The chemical attack was a direct violation of international law and UN Resolutions, especially UN Resolution 2118 adopted after the August 2013 attacks also perpetrated by Assad. The Resolution called on the Assad regime to declare all its chemical weapon stockpiles and to cooperate with international efforts to eliminate them.
 
The fact that the Assad regime was able to use chemical weapons again demonstrates failure to abide by this resolution. Still, the airstrikes by the United States were meant to punish this behavior, not enact regime change in Syria. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was clear on that in his released statement on April 5th 2017. He was clear that the next step will focus on jumpstarting the Geneva peace process in which the U.S. and allies are likely to push for the eventual departure of the Syrian President who was behind all these heinous acts.
 
I Am Syria believes the decision to move against Assad at this stage is morally and legally justified. It’s our hope at I Am Syria that the administration will focus its efforts over the next days and weeks in the pursuit of a robust political process that can bring this conflict and the suffering of the Syrian people to an end.
​





​2017-04-07

SHARE