President Trump announces U.S. launched strikes on Syria
- by Lorraine Moran
- in Culture&Arts
- — Apr 14, 2018
Opposition leaders and rescuers say more than 40 people, including many women and children, died in the suspected chemical attack.
British Prime Minister Theresa May won backing from her senior ministers on Thursday to take unspecified action with the United States and France to deter further use of chemical weapons by Syria.
"We have sought to use every possible diplomatic channel to achieve this".
Yet according to the US Defense Department, though Russian radar systems in Syria were on and detected US warplanes planes, Russia chose not to fire on them, instead only attempting to shoot down some of the cruise missiles. He said the targets were "selected. carefully to minimize the risk to innocent civilians" and that he was unaware of any civilian casualties from the operation. She said the use of force was "right and legal" in this case.
"The red line set by France in May 2017 has been crossed", he said.
The missiles targeted three separate facilities linked to Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, including a research facility in Damascus, a chemical weapons storage facility in Homs - allegedly used to prepare the nerve agent sarin gas - and another nearby command post.
In total, the USA and its allies fired more than 100 missiles, but the Pentagon could not confirm how many hit their targets.
But on Friday night, Mr. Trump said the U.S.is "prepared to sustain this response" until Syrian President Bashar Assad halts his believed use of chemical weapons.
President Trump did not specifically state the targets but did say the targets were associated with chemical weapon capabilities.
Russia's Defense Ministry was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies that Syria intercepted the US and allied attacks using Soviet-produced hardware, including the Buk missile system. Damascus state TV was claiming the regime had intercepted some Tomahawk missiles, Fox News reported, although the claim was unverified.
"In the past year and a half Russian Federation has fully restored Syria's air defence system and continues to further upgrade it", Rudskoi said.
"This persistent pattern of behavior must be stopped - not just to protect innocent people in Syria from the horrific deaths and casualties caused by chemical weapons but also because we can not allow the erosion of the global norm that prevents the use of these weapons", she said.
"The worst apprehensions have come true". Russian Federation said that the Western powers "cynically" carried out military action hours before a team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was set to begin an investigation into the suspected chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta that sparked the intervention by the USA and its allies.
They "are responsible for the regional consequences of this adventurist action", it said, condemning a "clear violation of worldwide rules and laws". "While long-term questions remain on our engagement in Syria, I support the decision by President Trump to join with our allies to launch the targeted military response tonight to hold the Assad regime accountable".
