The US military strike launched on Syria on 6 April, in defiance of international law and following a sudden volte-face by US president Donald Trump, may open a new, drastic internationalisation of the Syrian conflict.

 

By his actions, Trump fuels military escalation and retaliation while the people of Syria desperately need the war to stop immediately.

 

The United States’ military action will encourage political support of Bashar al-Assad, galvanise jihadist groups that exploit the disastrous impact of foreign intervention in the Middle East, and delay the real opportunities for a political resolution of the conflict which could open the path to democratic transition.

 

The suffering endured by the victims of chemical weapons is added to the toll, in six years, of 321,000 dead, 145,000 missing and nearly 11 million displaced persons and refugees. The countries involved in this conflict must engage in effective political and diplomatic action – under the auspices of the UN – to end the armed conflict and open peace negotiations. Those responsible for the use of chemical weapons and arms of mass destruction shall be brought to justice.

 

The unilateral US initiative creates a precedent with the worse possible consequences imaginable; repudiation of the multilateral UN framework as a means to resolve the Syrian conflict is dangerous for the whole world and truly a step backward.

 

The French Communist Party expresses its deepest disapproval of the American strikes, just as we vigorously condemn the use of chemical weapons and the pursuit of war in Syria.

 

The French Communist Party calls on President François Hollande to intervene to convene an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in order to prevent the further build-up of military actions and to coordinate and effectively implement the roadmap that the Council adopted in December 2015. Negotiations must speak more powerfully than arms.

 

The French Communist Party offers our support to initiatives for an end to armed conflict and air strikes, in favour of a negotiated solution for Syria.

 

French Communist Party

Paris, 7 April 2017