Major General Le Van Cuong: Three deep motives for the US attack on Syria

PV:World public opinion is very skeptical about the use of toxic chemicals in the town of Douma and considers this an excuse created by the US to conduct military airstrikes on Syria. What is your opinion on this issue?

Major General Le Van Cuong: For a week now, world public opinion has been revolving around the incident in which, according to the US and Western governments, the Assad regime used chemical weapons in the town of Douma, so the US government and its Western allies, mainly France and the UK, launched airstrikes against Syria. There are many different opinions around the world about the use of chemical weapons in Douma.

In general, people suspect that this is the US creating an excuse to take military measures against the Assad regime. I think that world public opinion is very sober and objective, because up to this moment there is no evidence to prove that chemical weapons were used in Douma. And Russia has in hand sufficient evidence to prove that there was no sign of chemical weapons being used in Douma. The media coverage of this incident is a US staging to create an excuse to launch a military conflict against Syria.

Theoretically speaking, the town of Douma is the last refuge of the opposition forces supported by the US. But the town of Douma is under siege by the Assad regime. On the Syrian battlefield, the Assad regime, supported by Russia and Syria, is dominating the battlefield and is gaining the upper hand. In the town of Douma, the accusation of using chemical weapons is completely meaningless, because the Syrian army is besieging this town and is in a winning position, so they do not need to use chemical weapons.

Therefore, the international public's suspicion of this incident is completely correct. It can be seen that this is a familiar thing for the US, for example, 15 years ago, in order to launch the war of aggression against Iraq, the US came up with the excuse that Saddam Hussein's government used weapons of mass destruction and had relations with Al-Queda to carry out the attack on the US; and since 1945 until now, the US has had dozens of excuses to invade other countries.

US President Donald Trump and the war in Syria.

PV:Public opinion also doubts the military motive for the US attack on Syria this time. How does the Major General explain this?

Major General Le Van Cuong: Previously, Mr. Donald Trump announced to withdraw from Syria to let others manage, meaning Russia. In my opinion, there are 3 motives that pushed the US to carry out this attack on Syria. The main, direct purpose is that after 7 years, the US and its allies have thrown in about 120 billion dollars to support the opposition forces to both fight against IS and serve the most important ultimate goal of the US, which is to eliminate the Assad regime as it did with Saddam Hussein in 2003, as it did with Gaddafi in 2011.

The most important ultimate goal of the US in Syria is to eliminate the Assad regime through counter-terrorism. But despite losing more than 100 billion dollars, the US and its allies have not achieved their goal; even the Assad regime, supported by Russia and Iran, has now won and dominated the battlefield. It can be said that the current "Syrian chessboard" is dominated by Russia, along with Russia, Iran and Türkiye. This is something that the US elite and the "hawks" of the Democratic and Republican parties do not want to accept, they never want Assad to exist and be in a winning position. Therefore, they obstruct the military solution, officially encourage the prolongation of the Syrian conflict to drown Russia here.

Another reason is that after 1 year in power, the Donald Trump administration has lost its prestige and trust in the American community and American voters in both domestic and foreign policies. The Donald Trump administration has not been supported by the people, and even in the Republican and Democratic parties, many senators and congressmen have strongly opposed it. The prestige of the Donald Trump administration has seriously declined after 1 year in power.

S-400 air defense missile in Syria. Photo Internet.

In November 2018, the US will enter the midterm elections, if this situation continues, the Republican Party risks losing control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Therefore, in a very difficult and complicated political situation in terms of prestige and people's trust in the Donald Trump administration, he uses military measures against Syria to prove to the US voters, the American people, and America's allies that Donald Trump is a strong administration.

Through the airstrike on Syria, the Trump administration wants to send a message to American voters, to the Republican and Democratic parties, that Trump still holds power firmly and properly exercises the authority of a US president with the slogan "America first, make America strong again".

Next, in the past 2 months, President Donald Trump has been dealing with a lot of public opinion that is not favorable to him. That is, Mr. Trump himself, as well as his son, daughter, and son-in-law, have relations with the Russian Embassy; Russia's influence on the 2016 US election. More than a month ago, American television broadcast a number of reports about a number of women who expressed their dissatisfaction with Mr. Trump for sexually harassing them.

Donald Trump has many political opponents, if those opponents take advantage of these cases to impeach the president, meaning that the president is not qualified to lead, through the House of Representatives they will be able to overthrow President Trump. Therefore, attacking Syria is also an act to "show off", to tell American voters that Donald Trump's administration is the right administration, to distract American public opinion that is surrounding the above-mentioned Trump.

PV:GrandfatherHow can we assess Russia's reaction to this event?

Major General Le Van Cuong:Before the airstrikes, the Russian President declared that the Russian military was always on alert throughout Russia and Syria; if Russian military bases in Syria were attacked, Russia had the right to respond, pursue, not only shoot down missiles aimed at Russian military bases but also pursue the source, that is, the US aircraft carriers, submarines, and destroyers from which the missiles were launched.

Faced with Putin’s statements, the Donald Trump administration is forced to calculate so as not to touch even one of Russia’s military “heels”. Therefore, Russia always remains calm, and Russia does not want to rush into war with the US at present. But if the US touches even one Russian or one Russian soldier, they are ready to respond. And according to Russia, the US attack on Syria is an act of trampling on international law and they must bear responsibility. Russia’s current reaction also stems from the US’s actions when it has not touched Russia.

PV:In your opinion, what will be the consequences for Syria, Middle Eastern countries and the US if the US government continues airstrikes?

Major General Le Van Cuong:Public opinion believes that this airstrike will be extremely complicated, making a political solution in Syria increasingly distant. The US itself does not want a political solution, although they say one thing but do another. Because the political solution is currently in the hands of Russia, Iran and Türkiye.

Therefore, they stir up conflicts and make them spiral into new conflicts; making the conflict between the two sects of Shia and Sunni Islam in the Middle East, which has lasted for thousands of years, become even more intense. The relationship between Israel and Palestine becomes even more difficult to stabilize.

The relationship between the US and the Muslim world is increasingly deepening the conflict, and it will be even more dangerous if the Trump administration continues to carry out airstrikes, which will cause the Islamic jihadist forces to grow. Therefore, if the US is wise and sober in stopping the airstrikes on Syria, the situation in the Middle East and Syria can still be controlled, avoiding the Americans having to take responsibility and the American voters having to take responsibility for this historical consequence.

PV:Thank you, General!