Syria gas survivors wonder if US-led action is game changer

Last April, US launched a battery of missiles targeting Syrian regime air base in retaliation for a chemical attack carried out by the Bashar al Assad's regime.

Despite those attacks, Assad continued his stranglehold on power.

The Western countries led by the US repeated the action on Friday by launching over a hundred Tomahawk missiles targeting three regime facilities.

The latest strikes came in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack on April 7 in Douma town of Syria's eastern Ghouta enclave, in which over 40 people were killed, sparking evacuation of the besieged Syrians from the town.

Even as the US President Donald Trump declared "Mission accomplished" in his tweets  on Saturday, many Douma gas survivors who spoke withTRT World  are skeptical about Trump's claim, saying the attacks, like those carried out in 2017, will change little on the ground.

Abu Alhasan Alandaloosi

(History and human rights researcher) 

It is aimed at reducing the tension of people towards the chemical attack. 

Everyone in eastern Ghouta knows that Trump's media and marketing plan is not really honest. Why did he not react to Assad's air strikes and bomb attacks?

I survived the chemical attack and left the town towards the north with one of the last groups that left Douma. 

Now I have shelter inside a mosque in northern Syria as there is no place left for me in the camps as of now. 

The attack on the Syrian regime is to protect American interest, not Syrian civilians. Trump wants to promote America and himself.  

He only objected to the chemical bombardment, but did not object to Assad's aerial bombardment, mortar attacks, and ground raids.

Samer (name changed on request)

(Medic)

The missile strikes against the regime came too late. It's not like what we thought. I was expecting a bigger response. But I hope that these strikes will stop the Assad regime from killing people in other Syrian cities and towns. 

I was among the few remaining medical personnel in Douma when the chemical attack took place. Working almost 60 hours in the hospital with no break, I was only able to save only handful of victims. 

I am sure they were exposed to toxic gas.

The biggest concern in this war should be civilians. There should be no more killing, no more bombardment, whatever it takes.

The use of chemical weapons by the regime and all other internationally banned weapons should be stopped in Syria. The political solution should start immediately.

Firas Abdullah 

(Photojournalist)

These missile strikes were only meant for media consumption. 

We, Syrians, know that the sites targeted were not strategic positions. 

Nobody knows where the chemical weapons are produced but we know that international community knows exactly where Assad is standing.

If they really want to finish this criminal, they know what to do. 

But the latest strikes against the regime are only to get global praise.