Trump: U.S., allies attack Syria to stop chemical weapons

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday announced that the United States in coordination with Britain and France had launched strikes on Syrian targets to punish President Bashar al-Assad for a chemical attack last week on civilians.

Those strikes on Syria were confirmed by reporters on the ground shortly after Trump delivered his announcement. Syrian television reported that Syrian air defenses have responded to the attack.

Addressing the nation from the White House, Trump said, “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. A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now underway.”

Trump not only assailed Assad as a monster for the chemical attacks, but also blamed the leaders of Iran and Russia, including its President Vladimir Putin, “for supporting, equipping and financing the criminal Assad regime.”

Trump said the action was taken in response to what the United States said they were confident was a Syrian chemical attack last Saturday that he said occurred in the town of Douma, near the Syrian capital of Damascus.

“This massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use,” Trump said, noting that such weapons had been banned a century ago. He said the attack “left mothers and fathers, infants and children thrashing in pain and gasping for air.”

Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, in a Facebook post wrote: “The worst apprehensions have come true . . . We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences.”

“The U.S. — the possessor of the biggest arsenal of chemical weapons — has no moral right to blame other countries,” Antonov wrote.

Democratic leaders urged Trump to come up with a clear strategy but also warned him not to widen U.S. engagement in Syria.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, “One night of airstrikes is not a substitute for a clear, comprehensive Syria strategy. 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.”

But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, “A pinpointed, limited action to punish and hopefully deter Assad from doing this again is appropriate, but the administration has to be careful about not getting us into a greater and more involved war in Syria.”

Defense Secretary James Mattis said in a television address that Syria did not get the message that the United States delivered a year ago when, Trump said, it wiped out 20 percent of the Syrian air force in a targeted attack.

“This time, our allies and we have struck harder,” he said.

The action was a turnabout from Trump’s tweets last week, when he said he wanted to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, Trump promised that the coalition of the United States, France and Britain “is prepared to sustain a response until the Syrians stop using chemical weapons.”

But he added, “America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria, under no circumstances. As other nations step up their contributions, we look forward to the day we can bring our warriors home.”

Trump laid the blame on Iran and Russia for supporting Assad, and directly addressed Putin, who he had recently congratulated for his sham election victory and invited to the White House for a meeting.

“In 2013 President Putin and his government promised the world that they would guarantee the elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons. Assad’s recent attacks and today’s response are the direct result of Russia’s failure to keep that promise,” Trump said.

“Russia must decide if it will continue down this dark path or if it will join with civilized nations as a force for stability and peace,” Trump said.

Syria had denied launching a chemical attack, which first responders and activists said killed more than 40 people.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday claimed the attack was fake and accused Britain of staging it. Britain called that charge “a blatant lie.”

The chemical strike followed weeks of the Syrian regime’s air campaign that killed an estimated 1,600 people and badly damaged rebel-held Damascus suburbs of eastern Ghouta, according to reports.

Before a U.N. Security Council meeting Friday, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley signaled that some kind of action was in the works. “At some point, you have to do something,” Haley told reporters. “At some point, you have to say ‘enough.’ ”

Mattis, in a briefing with reporters about an hour after the strikes, said the multiple airstrikes would lead to the “long-term degradation” of Syria’s chemical weapons capability.

Mattis said the strikes — aimed at a chemical weapons research facility in the Damascus area, and a chemical weapons storage facility west of Homs, among other sites — resulted in the loss of years of chemical weapons research and data.

“Important infrastructure was destroyed,” Mattis said.

Mattis said the United States and its allies “have gone to great lengths to avoid civilian and foreign casualties.”

He said “right now, this is a one-time shot” but would not rule out further attacks.

Asked if there were any casualties reported after the strikes, Mattis said, “right now there is no report of losses,” but said he would update reporters Saturday morning.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there was no coordination with Russia or advance notice given to the Kremlin, but said “we specifically identified these targets to mitigate the risk of Russian forces being involved.”