Posted on 04/07/2017 2:13:29 AM PDT by Candor7
WASHINGTON, April 6, 2017 — The United States fired Tomahawk missiles into Syria today in retaliation for the regime of Bashar Assad using nerve agents to attack his own people.
President Donald J. Trump ordered the attack on Al-Shayrat Air Base, the base from which the chemical attack on Syria’s Idlib province was launched. The missiles were launched from U.S. Navy ships in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross fires a tomahawk land attack missile while conducting naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea, April 7, 2017. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert S. Price The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross fires a tomahawk land attack missile while conducting naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea, April 7, 2017. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert S. Price
The attack is in retaliation for the Syrian dictator for using banned chemical agents in the April 4 attack.
“Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians,” Trump said in a statement to the nation. “Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.”
Vital National Security Interest
Trump ordered the targeted military strike on the airfield that launched the attack. “It is in the vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons,” the president said.
No one disputes that Syria used banned chemical weapons of the people of Idlib, he said, adding that this is a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Syria also ignored United Nations Security Council resolutions.
“Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically,” Trump said. “As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.”
Trump called on all civilized nations to join the United States in seeking an end to the slaughter in Syria, and to end the threat terrorism poses in the blighted nation.
Details of Strike
Shortly after the president’s address, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis issued a statement providing details of the strike. It took place at about 8:40 p.m. EDT -- 4:40 a.m. April 7 in Syria, he said. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross fires a tomahawk land attack missile while conducting naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea, April 7, 2017. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert S. Price The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ross fires a tomahawk land attack missile while conducting naval operations in the Mediterranean Sea, April 7, 2017. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert S. Price
The strike was conducted using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles, or TLAMs, launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Davis said in his statement. A total of 59 TLAMs targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars.
“As always,” Davis said, “the U.S. took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict. Every precaution was taken to execute this strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield.”
The strike was “a proportional response to Assad's heinous act,” the Pentagon spokesman said, noting that Shayrat Airfield was used to store chemical weapons and Syrian air forces. The U.S. intelligence community assesses that aircraft from Shayrat conducted the April 4 chemical weapons attack, he added, and the strike was intended to deter the regime from using chemical weapons again.
Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line, Davis said, and U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel at the airfield.
“We are assessing the results of the strike,” Davis said. “Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing the Syrian government's ability to deliver chemical weapons. The use of chemical weapons against innocent people will not be tolerated.”
North Korea: Take Note.
So we have another President that believes they can simply launch attacks against other nations whenever the feel like it.
I wonder who is advising Trump on this.
Can one really “retaliate” for a wrong done to someone else?
You can in MLB. If a pitcher sticks one of yours and he is pulled, pick the best player on their team and stick him in the ribs with 90+ mph. That said, I wonder why Syria wasn’t doing more chem attacks, seems like it is weird that they don’t.
Freegards
Billy is an exemplary liberal fascist. What rocks his boat
is any violence or anarchy. He gets off on it.
He needs a little holiday in North Korea with dog meat for dinner once a week as his sole protein source. His bark is much worse than his bite.
Soon we all will order out for Chinese food.Womam who fly upside down over UN have clack up.
You could say it was good to do something like this to show the Chinese Commie President what might happen to Little Kim if he keeps on showing his “Big Finger” so to speak.
But of course what this action on behalf of the al Qaeda jihadist terrorist opposition in Syria tells me is that the nations behind the Syrian opposition (Qatar and Saudi Arabia) have an option on the use of the US military.
An option because our 20 trillion going to 35 trillion in debt nation owes something to them.......
Interesting point. Of course, in baseball, one knows who is on which team.
Trump has been rolled by the neocon war machine.
President Trump never wastes money or resources. This is an investment in the future of Israel, and pushing Iran BACK.
This also shows the Middle East that President Trump supports the Sunni cause. This is very significant because Obama supported the Shiites in Iraq and in Syria.
President Trumps decision also makes the Saudis and their associate states very happy.
Next its safe zones. The UN had better get on board with the USA. And so should the Saudis with some big bucks for refugees.
Trump has been rolled by the neocon war machine.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
General Mattis is the advisor on this one, not the neocon war machine.
We are now engaging in the Art of War, not the “neocon” war machine.
Apparently Ivanka and Jared’s lawyer is Jamie Gorelick and her best friend is Dina Powell, who now works for the White House. Check out Stranahan’s YouTube feed for updates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrD2C1HKHA8
DOUBLE RED ALERT: on Trump Nat’l Security Advisor Dina Powell and Obama HOUSEMATE Valerie Jarrett
I wonder who is advising Trump on this.>>>>>>>>>>>>
General Mattis.
Bump
They reportedly tried: Liberman: WMDs Israel thwarted from reaching Hezbollah were chemical arms: Liberman was referring to previous comments he made after a suspected Israeli strike on the Mezzeh airbase near Damascus. (December 8, 2016).
This aint good
incidental, read in the Guardian that Japan has extended support for the strike, also. (France is still hiding under the bed.)
Wait a minute. Assad and Putin are buddy-buddy.
The media tells us Trump and Putin are buddy-buddy.
So how can Trump hit Assad?
This totally destroys the credibility of the NYT/PBS/WAPO that Trump is close to the Russians and controlled by the Russians.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.