Russia's Military on Alert for Potential US Attack on Syria

Russia's military has gone on alert as the possibility of a potential attack by U.S. forces against Syria rises, according to Newsweek.

Russian media agency TASS reported that Russia will “take all political, diplomatic and military retaliatory measures if necessary should the United States deliver a strike on Syria.”

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“The politics of double standards have hit rock bottom. And here the United Russia party conscientiously states that all political, diplomatic and military measures if necessary will be taken. No illegal action will remain unanswered,” Russian State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Vladimir Shamanov said on Tuesday.

After various rebel-linked NGOs, such as the White Helmets, reported that chemical weapons were used in Douma outside of Damascus, U.S. President Donald Trump said that “forceful” measures would be taken, and that a “major decision” would be made soon. “No response is off the table,” Trump said. “We have a lot of options militarily.”

Although various countries including Russia, Syria, China and Bolivia have called for full investigations into the alleged attacks, the United States along with the United Kingdom and France have pushed for strong measures in the absence of such a report.

Russian military specialists say that they have investigated the region and found no traces of chemical weapons use, and the United Nations has said that it is “not in a position at this point to independently verify the allegations,” according to Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy announced that it was deploying a strike fleet, including 6,500 sailors, an aircraft carrier, and several cruise missile equipped destroyer ships to a region close to Syria. The statement by the Navy claims however that the deployment is part of regularly planned maneuvers.

Damascus has said that the reports are a “fabrication,” and are simply a “predesigned pretext” to justify an attack against their government.