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Destroyers from Cádiz Naval base used in US air strike on Syria
08/04/2017
TWO destroyers from the Naval base at Rota (Cádiz province) were used in the US military action against Syrian forces in retaliation for their chemical weapons attack on Idlib.
But Spanish government spokesman Íñigo Méndez de Vigo says the cabinet was unaware of this until after the air strike when it received a written communication from NATO.
Warnings about the air raid before it went ahead were only given to 'those countries with boots on the ground', explained Méndez de Vigo, of which Spain is not one.
The Rota Naval base is used by US soldiers as part of an agreement with the Spanish government, and serves as a stop-off and refuelling point as well as a strategic launch-pad for military intervention in Africa and the Middle East carried out by forces from the United States.
Spain has never sent troops to Syria and pulled its soldiers out of Iraq in 2004 when former president, socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, came into power.
In these countries, Spain only now has specially-trained soldiers and Guardia Civil officers in Iraq, whose purpose is to teach the national security forces techniques for combating the soi-disant 'Islamic State', or DAESH.
Left-wing party Podemos's Andalucía branch has demanded explanations from the regional president, Susana Díaz (PSOE).
Spokeswoman Teresa Rodríguez wants to know if the socialist leader knew the attack was going to involve the two ships based in Rota, why she did not stop it if that was the case and, either way, what she plans to do about it now.
Sra Rodríguez said Sra Díaz should 'pay a bit of attention in her tight in-house schedule' to 'attend to and share the concerns' of the people of Andalucía that this 'escalating armed conflict' had set off from Rota.
“The fact that this warlike action started from our own territory is putting our safety at risk,” Rodríguez concludes.
Spanish president Mariano Rajoy claims the US air strike in western Syria was 'in proportion' as a response to the chemical weapons attack, and that it was 'not aimed at civilians'.
US president Donald Trump ordered the immediate military response to the chemical weapons massacre without asking for authorisation from Congress – or, in fact, consulting anyone except those involved.
His knee-jerk reaction, unprecedented in modern North American history, 'crossed a lot of lines', as Trump himself admitted – and, having already not stopped to consider the long-term consequences which may arise, has warned Syria that the US is 'ready for more of the same'.
The 59 cruise missiles were aimed directly at the military forces serving Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who shows no signs of letting up in his relentless crusade against his country's moderate opposition and civilians and who is thought to have ordered the Army to launch the chemical weapons.
Whether the attack has borne any fruit is open to conjecture: four years ago, Trump's Democrat predecessor Barack Obama negotiated with Syria to secure the latter country's handing over of its chemical weapon stocks, but this did not stop al-Assad's forces from using mainstream weapons and even chlorine barrel-bombs instead.
And, clearly, Syria did not surrender all its chemical stocks when requested to do so by Obama in 2013.
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TWO destroyers from the Naval base at Rota (Cádiz province) were used in the US military action against Syrian forces in retaliation for their chemical weapons attack on Idlib.
But Spanish government spokesman Íñigo Méndez de Vigo says the cabinet was unaware of this until after the air strike when it received a written communication from NATO.
Warnings about the air raid before it went ahead were only given to 'those countries with boots on the ground', explained Méndez de Vigo, of which Spain is not one.
The Rota Naval base is used by US soldiers as part of an agreement with the Spanish government, and serves as a stop-off and refuelling point as well as a strategic launch-pad for military intervention in Africa and the Middle East carried out by forces from the United States.
Spain has never sent troops to Syria and pulled its soldiers out of Iraq in 2004 when former president, socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, came into power.
In these countries, Spain only now has specially-trained soldiers and Guardia Civil officers in Iraq, whose purpose is to teach the national security forces techniques for combating the soi-disant 'Islamic State', or DAESH.
Left-wing party Podemos's Andalucía branch has demanded explanations from the regional president, Susana Díaz (PSOE).
Spokeswoman Teresa Rodríguez wants to know if the socialist leader knew the attack was going to involve the two ships based in Rota, why she did not stop it if that was the case and, either way, what she plans to do about it now.
Sra Rodríguez said Sra Díaz should 'pay a bit of attention in her tight in-house schedule' to 'attend to and share the concerns' of the people of Andalucía that this 'escalating armed conflict' had set off from Rota.
“The fact that this warlike action started from our own territory is putting our safety at risk,” Rodríguez concludes.
Spanish president Mariano Rajoy claims the US air strike in western Syria was 'in proportion' as a response to the chemical weapons attack, and that it was 'not aimed at civilians'.
US president Donald Trump ordered the immediate military response to the chemical weapons massacre without asking for authorisation from Congress – or, in fact, consulting anyone except those involved.
His knee-jerk reaction, unprecedented in modern North American history, 'crossed a lot of lines', as Trump himself admitted – and, having already not stopped to consider the long-term consequences which may arise, has warned Syria that the US is 'ready for more of the same'.
The 59 cruise missiles were aimed directly at the military forces serving Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who shows no signs of letting up in his relentless crusade against his country's moderate opposition and civilians and who is thought to have ordered the Army to launch the chemical weapons.
Whether the attack has borne any fruit is open to conjecture: four years ago, Trump's Democrat predecessor Barack Obama negotiated with Syria to secure the latter country's handing over of its chemical weapon stocks, but this did not stop al-Assad's forces from using mainstream weapons and even chlorine barrel-bombs instead.
And, clearly, Syria did not surrender all its chemical stocks when requested to do so by Obama in 2013.
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You may also be interested in ...
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