News is breaking in the United States that the Trump administration has launched missile strikes against Syria, in the wake of last week’s chemical attack which intelligence linked to the government of Bashar al-Assad.
Though Trump has in the past made statements that he would avoid this kind of open conflict with the Syrian government, he flagged the fact that the chemical attack – which is believed to have killed over 100 people – changed his mind. On Air Force One he made a statement to gathered journalists which flagged his change of mind:
I think what happened in Syria is a disgrace to humanity, and he’s there, and I guess [al-Assad is] running things, so something should happen.
Two U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired at least 50 Tomahawk missiles at the al-Shayrat airfield, a Syrian military site close to Homs which U.S. intelligence believes was the site the chemical attack was launched from.
CNN reports that the targets at the military airbase included “runways, aircraft and fuel points”.
Senior U.S. military commanders have long argued against the country involving itself deeply in the fractious, multifaceted Syrian civil war – likely fearing a complete boondoggle like Iraq. It is unknown the extent to which the U.S. plans to involve itself, or if it has any longterm plans on what to do in the country.
Trump will address the media from his Mar-a-Lago estate soon.
Source: The Guardian.
Photo: Getty Images.
