The Guardian, April 7, 2017 – Britain, too, has issued a show of support for the US action against Syria.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said:
The UK government fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks.
Australia’s prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he “strongly supports” the US military strike on Syria’s al-Shayrat airfield, calling it a calibrated, proportionate and targeted response to the Syrian regime’s “shocking war crime”.
He said Australia was in close discussions with its allies about the next steps, but said the airstrike had sent an important signal that the world would not tolerate the use of chemical weapons.
In a specially-convened press conference in Sydney on Friday, Turnbull said:
It sends a strong message to the Assad regime.
The retribution has been proportionate and it has been swift. We support the United States in that swift action.
Turnbull said it was important to note that the international community was not at war with the Assad regime, and the US had made it clear it was not seeking to overthrow Bashar al-Assad.
However, he said events of this week raised “very real questions” over whether Assad could remain as leader of Syria:
This chemical attack was a horrific crime, shocking, even in the context of that brutal war.
Turnbull said the US had not asked for more military support, but he left open the possibility of providing it in the future:
There is no question that this shocking conflict in Syria is crying out itself for a resolution and we certainly will continue to work with our allies and our partners to see a resolution to this shocking war.