Premonition of War? Alleged Idlib Chemical Attack Seen as 'Modern Casus Belli'

Last Thursday, at least five people were killed and seven others injured after the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in Ash Sha'irat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs.

US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria's Idlib province on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, for her part, said that the US missile attack has nothing to do with attempts to uncover the truth about the use of chemical weapons in Idlib province.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said following his talks with Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella that the latest US missile strikes had been carried out despite any proof of the Syrian government's involvement in the alleged Idlib attack. He was reminded of the United States' UN Security Council address in 2003 that finally led to the invasion of Iraq.

"This reminds me very much of the events of 2003, when US representatives in the Security Council showed alleged chemical weapons discovered in Iraq. This was followed by a military campaign in Iraq, which ended with the destruction of the country, an increased terrorist threat and the emergence of Daesh on the international scene – no more, no less," he said.

"So let's hope that the case will not be submitted to The Hague court, and that they will admit at the end of the day that it was fake news," Nikolaichuk said, referring to Washington and the alleged Idlib chemical attack.

"Under the current state of affairs, such an attack can be seen as a typical casus belli, a pretext to blow up Russian-American relations and the settlement process in Syria," he said.

Nikolaichuk recalled that a casus belli is usually never investigated by a court and is recognized only after an event takes place.

As an example, he referred to the Gleiwitz incident, a false flag operation by Nazi forces posing as Poles on August 31, 1939, which was followed by the beginning of the Second World War.

"As for this provocation related to the alleged use of chemical weapons [in Idlib], it is a concept of threats adjusted to the modern perception of an ordinary person, something that may be followed by a war," he said.

The Syrian Foreign Minister denied the government’s involvement in the Idlib incident, saying it had never nor would it ever use chemical weapons on either civilians or terrorists operating in the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on April 6 that groundless accusations in the chemical weapons incident in Syria's Idlib were unacceptable before the investigation into the matter had been carried out while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday criticized the US missile attack as a violation of the international law.

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