Syria Bombing Contained? WATA Laugh and Spring Banners.

Woke up this morning with the news that the US, UK and France had conducted a major strike on Syria. 105 missiles rained down on one target in Damascus and two sites outside of Homs. The targets were chosen for being research, production and storage centres for nerve gases. None of them were intercepted by Syrian or Russian defence systems, though apparently the Syrians let off several of their own ballistic missiles after the attack at 4 am local time had occurred.

At this moment in time, it looks as if this limited action has not initiated a counterattack by the Russians as they had planned, saving us from an escalating conflict for the time being.

By 2013, Syria had a large  stockpile of chemical weapons, estimated at 1000 tons. When the country joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, Syria agreed to have it's stockpiles destroyed under the supervision of the  Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The task was believed to have been completed by 2014.

Presumably, the detailed knowledge on the locations of production and storage facilities came from the work done under the OPCW and subsequent military intelligence. At least five facilites were listed openly on Wikipedia.

The general consensus appears to be that whilst the argument behind the strikes by the US, UK and France was to send a a clear signal that the use of chemical weapons would not be sanctioned, this would be unlikely to affect the outcome of the current civil war. More than 99% of the Syrian government's military action, and the resultant misery, has been conducted using conventional weapons, with the support of  Russian and Iranian forces.

Life goes on, despite the efforts of the media to build up the potential danger of the current situation, with the US's President Trump and assorted Russian diplomats willing to goad each other with inflammatory rhetoric. There is the benefit that Brexit and President Trump's irritations are pushed into the background. Yet we are in a surreal position where the danger of the current situation does not really seem to impact, being simply another item interrupting sport and entertainment on TV and Radio.

Yesterday, Friday 13th, was the last grey day and the memorable event was the HBN Out and About visit to WATA (West Anglia Training Association). We arrived at an almost deserted site, it still being the Easter break for the students, and also to the frankly hilarious absence of the person who was going to give us the presentation & tour of the site. Fortunately, the site manager sprang into action and admirably filled the gap, with his decades of experience of the site and it's activities. The two things that stuck in my mind were the large scaffolding training hall, which catered both to students and experienced construction workers, and the stretch of highway used to prepare apprentices for work on the major construction work on the A14.

Today, Spring sunshine and welcome warmth took over. After a trip to Cambridge to pick up my new glasses, I found myself driving our local Liberal Councillor, handicapped by an injured arm, around the village and hammering in election signs at various locations under instruction.