Germany backs airstrikes in Syria as 'necessary and appropriate'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced her support Saturday for the previous day's US-led joint airstrikes in Syria, describing them as a "necessary and appropriate" measure to hinder the Syrian government's potential future use of chemical weapons and make sure international responses to their use remain effective.

"We support the fact that our American, British and French allies have taken responsibility in this way as permanent members of the UN Security Council," Merkel said.

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Officials from the Social Democratic party (SPD), which is part of Merkel's coalition government, also backed the strikes in line with the chancellor.

SPD politician and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas described the precision air attacks as appropriate measures against the Assad regime, which he accused of repeatedly using chemical weapons against its civilians.

Maas called for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to undertake another "full and independent investigation into the suspected use of chemical weapons." He added, however, that the Syria conflict's "development, intensity and scope clearly shows us that only a political solution can achieve lasting peace."

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The Green Party voiced its opposition to the strike. Party co-chairperson Anna Baerbock said that further military escalation is a mistake, even given the "horrific cruelty of the Syrian regime and its allies."

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Sahra Wagenknecht, the head of the Left, Germany's other current opposition party, described the airstrikes in Syria as "another military violation of international law." Similarly to Russia, the head of the Russia-friendly party also criticized the fact that the joint strikes took place before OPCW inspectors could provide their results.

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While the Free Democrats (FPD) also criticized Merkel's government, their rebukes came from the other direction. The party's foreign policy expert, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, said it was not right to remove possible German military involvement from the table at this point in time since Germany's allies could potentially ask it for help.

On Saturday, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) posted a series of tweets criticizing Merkel's support for the strikes and her policy towards Syria. Alexander Gauland, the leader of the AfD parliamentary group, told DW that: "There's still no concrete evidence of a chemical attack on Douma. Therefore, the strikes by the US, France and the UK are premature. Only when it's clear that it was a poison gas [attack] and that Assad was responsible, should such a retaliatory strike be considered."

http://www.dw.com/en/germany-backs-airstrikes-in-syria-as-necessary-and-appropriate/a-43386145