The Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation (CPPC) strongly condemns the US bombing of Syria, today at dawn, denouncing its illegal character and totally contrary to international law. The direct US military aggression against this sovereign State, which follows six years of covert war, constitutes an intolerable escalation with consequences still difficult to foresee, given the high military tension that exists in this martyred country of the Middle East.
As for the excuses for the attack, the CPPC draws attention to the fact that the facts and the true perpetrators of the reported use of chemical weapons in Idlib province, which has killed close to a hundred people, are still unknown. Expressing its strongest condemnation of the use of this type of weapons, the CPPC recalls that the Syrian government has already rejected any responsibility for the act, hence it is at least premature to define the responsibility for the terrible attack.
It is important to bear in mind that the Syrian authorities have dismantled their chemical arsenal, monitored by international bodies. The same cannot be said of the various terrorist groups operating in Syria, which may not only possess this type of weapons but may have already used them on Syrian territory on several occasions.
This US action only serves those who, like these groups, fight the legitimate government of the country, as evidenced by the ISIS forces’ offensive in the region soon after the US attack.
Also significant is the fact that the US was directly responsible for the deaths of 200 civilians in Mosul, Iraq, a few days ago, without this crime bringing any reaction or retaliation from the so-called "international community". Whereas in Syria, any suspicion, even unfounded, allows the use of a direct and illegal attack against a people and its sovereign state.

The CPPC holds the United States responsible, and all those who have come publicly in support of its criminal action, for the possible consequences of this attack, and demands that the Portuguese Government demarcate from this aggression, abiding with the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and the principles of the United Nations Charter, striving for the peaceful settlement of conflicts, for peace and for respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States.
The CPPC reaffirms its solidarity with the Syrian people and its heroic resistance, particularly saluting the Syrian National Peace Council, our sister organisation, a member of the World Peace Council.

April 7th 2017
CPPC's National Board