Syrian flashpoint for US, Russia

The support of every nation that values civilised behaviour and decency is vital for whatever action the US and other Western allies launch to retaliate against the chemical weapons attack on men, women and children in the Syrian town of Douma. Vladimir Putin can protest and threaten to deploy his state-of-the-art but untested S-400 air defence system to bring down whatever Tomahawk or other cruise missiles Donald Trump uses to avenge the horrors perpetrated in Douma. Russian military police began patrolling Douma yesterday. But the Russian President must understand the civilised world will not let the gassing of innocent civilians go unpunished.

To do so would legitimise the use of chemical weapons proscribed by the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention, to which Russia and Iran, Mr Putin’s ally in sustaining the Assad regime in Syria, are signatories. Doing nothing would allow Bashar al-Assad — labelled accurately by Mr Trump as a “Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” — to continue using gas with impunity. Such concerns do not resonate with Mr Putin, whose callousness was evident in his response to a Russian rocket shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing 298 people. The US and its allies want to destroy Assad’s chemical weapons stockpile and ensure his air force, which operates closely with Russian and Iranian forces, is grounded. The punishment must fit the crime, in a way Assad and his allies do not forget. That is a hard task and Mr Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron are moving carefully.

Relations between Russia and the West are more dangerously poised than at any time since the Cold War, with a real possibility of direct conflict. That does not diminish the need for resolute action. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is right to pledge Australia’s total support. Assad, Mr Putin and Iran’s terrorist-supporting ayatollahs must learn a hard lesson. All are complicit in the gas attacks. At a moment of grave danger, resolute leadership and mature judgment are vital.