Ns News Online Desk: President Trump announced a military attack against Syrian targets Friday night in response to the chemical attack Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad allegedly perpetrated on his own people.Trump told the nation from the White House that the US would join allies Britain and France in launching missile strikes in retaliation for the “evil and despicable” gassing of Syrian civilians.
“My fellow Americans, a short time ago I ordered the United States armed forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad,” Trump said shortly after 9 p.m. “A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now underway. We thank them both.” Loud explosions lit up the skies over Damascus, Syria’s capital, as Trump announced the airstrikes.
The coordinated strike marked the second time in a year that Trump has used force against Assad, who US officials believe has launched numerous chemical attacks. “One year ago Assad launched a savage chemical weapons attack against his own innocent people,” Trump said.
“The United States responded with 58 missile strikes that destroyed 20 percent of the Syrian Air Force. Last Saturday the Assad regime again deployed chemical weapons to slaughter innocent civilians.” Trump added that Britain and France “have marshaled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality.” The president specifically called out Syria’s allies in Tehran and Moscow and demanded they stop backing the Assad regime.
“To Iran and to Russia I ask what kind of a nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children? “ Trump said. “The nations of the world can be judged by the friends they keep. No nation can succeed in the long run by promoting rogue states, brutal tyrants and murderous dictators.” In Syria, Associated Press reporters saw smoke rising from east Damascus and the lit-up sky turning orange from the blasts.
A huge fire could be seen from a distance to the east. Syrian television said the attacks targeted a scientific research center in Barzeh, near Damascus, and an army depot near Homs.
Shortly after Trump announced the military action, US Joint Chiefs Chairman Joseph Dunford said the attacks targeted three locations tied to Syria’s chemical weapons. “The targets that were struck and destroyed were specifically associated with the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons program,” Dunford said during a press conference with Defense Secretary James Mattis. “We also selected targets that would minimize the risk to innocent civilians.” Dunford added, “We did not do any coordination with the Russians on the strikes, nor did we pre-notify them.”
The Russian Embassy in Washington lashed out at Trump with a statement that warned of consequences and claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin had been offended.
“We are being threatened,” a statement from the Kremlin read. “We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences. Insulting the President of Russia is unacceptable and inadmissible.” Russia warns of ‘consequences,’ slams Trump in wake of Syria attack Syrian media claimed that air defenses intercepted 13 rockets south of Damascus — though the Pentagon could not confirm or refute that report.
Reaction on Capital Hill was mixed as House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called for congressional authorization for the strikes. “The President must come to Congress and secure an Authorization for Use of Military Force by proposing a comprehensive strategy with clear objectives that keep our military safe and avoid collateral damage to innocent civilians,” Pelosi tweeted.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) called the attacks “reckless” and “illegal.” “The last thing this Congress should be doing is giving the president a blank check to wage war against anyone anywhere,” Kaine sad in a statement.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) applauded Trump’s decision to take action against the Assad regime, but emphasized the need for a broad strategy. “To succeed in the long run, we need a comprehensive strategy for Syria and the entire region,” McCain said in a statement. “The president needs to lay out our goals not just with regard to ISIS, but also the ongoing conflict in Syria, and malign Russia and Iranian influence in the region.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May said the targeted strike was not about “intervening in a civil war” and not about “regime change.” “It is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties,” May said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, an armada of 12 warships — the largest US strike force since the 2003 Iraq War — was reportedly steaming toward the Syrian coast. The aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman set sail from Norfolk, Va., on Wednesday with five escort warships and the fleet was expected to join four destroyers and two nuclear-powered subs believed to already be in or near the Mediterranean, The Times of London reported.
Also on Friday, UN Ambassador Nikki Hailey told an emergency gathering of the UN Security Council that any action by the US and its allies against Syria would be to defend “a bedrock international norm that benefits all nations” — the prohibition on the use of chemical weapons.” “Russia can complain all it wants about fake news, but no one is buying its lies and its cover-ups,” she said. “Russia was supposed to guarantee Assad would not use chemical weapons, and Russia did the opposite.”
A team of inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is due to launch a probe Saturday into last weekend’s attack that killed more than 40 people. Both the Russian military and the Syrian government said they would facilitate the mission and ensure the inspectors’ security.
