by Tracey Shelton, Global Post BEIRUT,\u00a0Lebanon<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 It\u2019s not about saving Syrian lives. It\u2019s about Obama saving face.<\/p>\n This is how one Syrian, Abdullah Omar, describes the US proposal to carry out limited strikes against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in the wake of a suspected chemical weapons attack against civilians last week.<\/p>\n Omar lives in a rebel-held town near\u00a0Turkey<\/a>, where he and his family assist refugees turned away from the Turkish border.<\/p>\n \u201cThe majority of people here support US airstrikes,\u201d Omar said. \u201cThey think it will give the rebels an advantage over the regime. But in my opinion, it won\u2019t. The Syrian people will keep suffering either from the regime or the extremists.\u201d<\/p>\n Since reports and horrific footage began surfacing Aug. 21, apparently of a devastating chemical weapon attack on opposition held areas of Damascus, the world has scrambled to make sense of the heinous attack.<\/p>\n Details as to precisely who or which side of the multi-faceted conflict is responsible for the attack have been hard to pin down. But the US government has publicly stated it has no doubt the Assad regime is responsible. This week, four US naval vessels were moved into the region in preparation for a 3-day strategic missile attack that may begin as soon as Thursday.<\/p>\n While they mourn the death of hundreds of their countrymen, Syrian reaction to these planned strikes has been mixed.<\/p>\n Many Syrians voiced concern that attacks would amount to little more than a \u201cshow\u201d staged to silence criticism of the international community. One Syrian refugee referred to the current threats of strikes as a \u201cpolitical comedy,\u201d saying the planned missile attacks were not designed to deal any real blow to the Syrian regime. It’s not in the interests of the West to end the current conflict, the refugee said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe regime has crossed so many red lines but the world\u2019s reaction has come too late,\u201d said Omar from his home in the Syrian town of Atmeh. \u201cEven now some are trying to delay the strikes. It\u2019s like sending a message to Bashar that he still has 4 days to do what he wants and he has already started by evacuating some military bases from around the country, so this strike won’t change anything on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n Rebel fighters in Aleppo confirmed the regime army had pulled out from several locations without a fight, including Kuwaires military airport in Aleppo province.<\/p>\n The movement of troops and weapons has added to fears that this week’s warnings have given the regime time to relocate any stockpiles of chemical weapons. This would render previous intelligence on the location of such weapons obsolete and hinder the effectiveness of strategic airstrikes.<\/p>\n For Free Syrian Army fighter Muhamad Raslan, US missile strikes may be too little and almost too late, but he and his fellow fighters still welcome them.<\/p>\n
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