Effectiveness in doubt

Aside from the far-fetched justification, the airstrikes also met with torrents of criticism on their effectiveness.

The US military announced that they fired 105 missiles targeting three facilities and set back Syria's chemical weapons program by years.

But the Russian Defense Ministry revealed on Monday that Syrian forces, equipped with Soviet-era air defense systems, intercepted 71 out of the total missiles launched by the US-led coalition.

The ministry said the real targets of the missile strikes on Saturday were Syrian military facilities, including airfields, in addition to the three targets announced by the US and its allies.

As well as skepticism from senior European political figures, some in the media have also queried the action.

Patrick Cockburn, a veteran journalist and award-winning writer for British newspaper The Independent, who has covered the Middle East since the 1980s, said ending the Syrian war is the only way to reduce civilian casualties, and everything else is hypocrisy and pretense.

The airstrikes were "more of a gesture of disapproval than an attempt to damage" Syrian military forces, he said, adding that "it does nothing to bring nearer the end of the war".

Xinhua and Reuters contributed to this story.