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Trump’s decision to hit Syrian airfield was outside UN framework – Belgian foreign minister

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Belgium’s top diplomat has called on US President Donald Trump to make sure his next foreign policy decisions are made within the United Nations’ framework, referring to an order to carry out a missile strike on Syria’s Shayrat Airbase overnight Thursday. “What we are seeing today is an escalation,” Foreign Minister Didier Reynders told Bel RTL radio    on Monday. “I can understand the reaction of the American president following a chemical attack, and it’s not the first [one]. But his decision was taken outside the international framework. [Decisions] must go through the United Nations, ” he said. On Friday, the US carried out a missile strike on Shayrat Airfield near Homs in response to an alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town in Idlib province, the blame for which Washington pinned on the Assad government. The Pentagon said the missiles destroyed 20 Syrian warplanes. White House spokesperson Sean Spicer said during a press briefing on

US Too Afraid to Bomb Syria After Russia Cuts Communication Channels

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By striking the Syrian military on April 6 with cruise missiles the US demonstrated 'resolve'. So much 'resolve' that it is now afraid to fly over Syria lest the Russians shoot them down. US officials told The New York Times : The American-led task force that is battling the Islamic State has sharply reduced airstrikes against the militants in Syria as commanders assess whether Syrian government forces or their Russian allies plan to respond to the United States’ cruise missile strike on a Syrian airfield this past week, American officials said. Quite apart from showing what a tough guy Trump is, the US strike has robbed its Syrian proxies of the support they enjoyed before, and at a time when the Battle for Raqqa intensifies. The US is now limiting itself to just the most essential strikes and accompanying these with expensive F-22 fighter jets. (Belgium meanwhile suspended all strikes .)  US insecurity is not only due to their cruise missile s