Ex-CIA Officer: Syrian Strikes Will Lead to More US Involvement in Conflict

Former CIA analyst and whistleblower John Kiriakou told Sputnik that the US strategy after attack on a Syrian airbase will be more Washington's involvement in the armed conflict.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Trump administration looks likely to follow up its cruise missile strike against Syrian targets last week with increased military involvement in that country’s conflicts, Kiriakou told Sputnik.

"The strategy after the attack, unfortunately, will be more US involvement in Syria," Kiriakou, who served in the Middle East as a CIA officer said.

Kiriakou warned that Trump could quickly find himself caught up in an escalation into a war involvement that he had previously expressed his desire to avoid.

"Any increase in support for the Saudis, whether in weapons sales, hardware, air support, or anything else, will draw the United States into a conflict in which it has no interest," he stated.

However, Kiriakou said he believed neither the United States nor Syria wanted to escalate military actions against each other after the US launched Tomahawk missile strikes were against a Syrian airbase last Thursday night.

"I don't think there will be any immediate consequences from the air strikes," he said.

Kiriakou also expressed his belief that Syrian President Bashar Assad had ordered the use of chemical weapons — something the Syrian and Russian governments have both flatly denied.

"Assad had to think that there would be fallout to yet another attack on innocent civilians. He calculated that the Russians wouldn't stop him. He calculated that the Iranians wouldn't stop him," he maintained.

Russia and Syria have both stated that the toxic agents detonated in Syria were being held by Islamist rebel forces.

Kiriakou said he believed Trump was sincere in his belief that the chemical weapons were dropped by Syrian aircraft. He expressed the belief that the cruise missile strikes were meant to retaliate against what he called "an act of genocide."

"The US military tracked the Syrian Air Force planes as they took off from their bases, dropped their chemical payloads, and returned," Kiriakou said.

However, the Syrian and Russian governments do not deny that the Syrian aircraft were attacking military targets in the area. They insist that the toxic agents were detonated on the ground when the aircraft hit the buildings where they were housed.

Kiriakou said he believed Trump was oblivious to the concern that visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping might feel over his ordering the Tomahawk strikes during his visit to the United States.

"Trump did this during the Chinese visit because he doesn't care about appearances. He felt that his hand was forced and he felt that the only time to act was now," he said.

Kiriakou gained international recognition as the only person the US government sent to prison for exposing the George W. Bush administration's torture program.