Airstrikes against Syria

President Trump says he ordered U.S. airstrikes in Syria in response to this week's deadly chemical attacks. Speaking from Florida, Trump called the chemical attacks horrible and barbaric and said they were aimed at innocent civilians.

He noted that the victims included "beautiful babies" and said, "No child of God should ever suffer such horror." Trump stressed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "choked out the lives" of helpless victims. He called on all civilized nations to join the U.S. in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria. The President said there is no dispute that Syria used "banned chemical weapons" in the attacks.

More than 60 U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched at an airfield. The airfield is thought to be where the deadly chemical attacks originated. But there’s there’s also an interesting post script – immediately following the confirmation of the airstrikes, there were rumors that Syria had been warned. Then late last night, the Pentagon confirmed that Russian and forces had been advised of the airstrikes in advance. The initial results of the action have not been confirmed.

• "Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said in an official statement. “U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield."
• Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin says it’s unacceptable to make "groundless" accusations over this week's suspected chemical weapons attack in He apparently made this statement during a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin "highlighted that it was unacceptable to make groundless accusations against anyone without conducting a detailed and unbiased investigation."
• Members of the Syrian-American community are reacting with relief and gratitude as the Trump administration launches a U.S. airstrike on a Syrian airfield. "I don't know if it's just me desperately wanting (change),” notes Dima Samra. But I'm a bit optimistic.”
• ONE MORE THING. The Pentagon has released video of the USS Porter and the USS Ross firing their missiles - they're on the right.

Source: The White House