U.S.BRITAIN AND FRANCE STRIKE SYRIA OVER SUSPECTED CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACK.
U.S., Britain and France Strike Syria Over Suspected Chemical Weapons Attack
U.S. Strikes Chemical Weapons Sites in Syria
The airstrikes on three sites in
Syria, launched early Saturday local time, were part of what officials
said was an effort to deter future chemical attacks.
By AINARA TIEFENTHÄLER, CHRISTOPH KOETTL, DAVID
BOTTI and CHRISTIAAN TRIEBERT on
Publish Date April 13, 2018.
Photo by Hassan Ammar/Associated Press.
Watch in Times Video »
WASHINGTON
— The United States and European allies launched airstrikes on Friday
night against Syrian research, storage and military targets as President
Trump sought to punish President Bashar al-Assad for a suspected chemical attack near Damascus last weekend that killed more than 40 people.
Britain
and France joined the United States in the strikes in a coordinated
operation that was intended to show Western resolve in the face of what
the leaders of the three nations called persistent violations of
international law. Mr. Trump characterized it as the beginning of a
sustained effort to force Mr. Assad to stop using banned weapons, but
only ordered a limited, one-night operation that hit three targets.
“These
are not the actions of a man,” Mr. Trump said of last weekend’s
suspected chemical attack in a televised address from the White House
Diplomatic Room. “They are crimes of a monster instead.”
Shortly after the attack, the Syrian presidency posted on Twitter, “Honorable souls cannot be humiliated.”
The strikes risked pulling the United States deeper into the complex, multisided war in Syria
and raised the possibility of confrontation with Russia and Iran, both
of which were supporting Mr. Assad with military forces. Within 90
minutes, the Russian ambassador to the United States warned of
“consequences” for the allied attacks.
TURKEY
Hasaka
Manbij
Afrin
KURDISH
CONTROL
Raqqa
REBEL
CONTROL
ISIS
CONTROL
GOVERNMENT
CONTROL
West of Homs
Two sites targeted
Deir al-Zour
SYRIA
Abu Kamal
LEB.
April 7
Suspected chemical attack
IRAQ
Damascus
One site targeted
Dar'a
JORDAN
50 MILES
While
Mr. Trump vowed as recently as last week to pull American troops out of
Syria, he said he would remain committed to the goal of preventing
further chemical attacks.
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“We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents,” he said.
But
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who had urged caution in White House
deliberations leading up to the strike, told reporters on Friday night
that there were no more attacks planned unless Mr. Assad again uses gas
on his own people.
“We
confined it to the chemical weapons-type targets,” Mr. Mattis said. “We
were not out to expand this; we were very precise and proportionate.
But at the same time, it was a heavy strike.”
The
assault was twice the size and hit two more targets than a strike that
Mr. Trump ordered last year against a Syrian military airfield. Launched
from warplanes and naval destroyers, the burst of missiles and bombs
struck Syria shortly after 4 a.m. local time on Saturday.
They
hit three of Mr. Assad’s chemical weapons facilities: a scientific
research center in greater Damascus that was used in the production of
weapons, and two chemical weapons facilities west of Homs, one of which
was used for the production of the nerve agent sarin and the other was
part of a military command post, said Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Trump Announces Airstrikes Against Syria
In an address from the White House,
President Trump said the United States and European allies sought to
punish Syria’s president for a suspected chemical attack.
By U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT on Publish Date April 13, 2018.
Photo by Tom Brenner/The New York Times.
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Residents of Damascus, the capital, woke to the sounds of multiple explosions shaking the city before the dawn call to prayer.
Syrian
state television said government air defense systems were responding to
“the American aggression” and aired video of missiles being fired into a
night sky. It reported that 13 missiles had been shot down by Syrian
air defenses near Al-Kiswa, a town south of Damascus. American officials
said they could not yet confirm that.
Mr.
Trump called on Syria’s patrons in Russia and Iran to force Mr. Assad
to halt the use of poison gas in the seven-year-old civil war that has
wracked his country.
“To
Iran and to Russia I ask: What kind of a nation wants to be associated
with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children?” he said. “The
nations of the world can be judged by the friends they keep. No nation
can succeed in the long run by promoting rogue states, brutal tyrants
and murderous dictators.”
Russia
responded with sharp words. “We warned that such actions will not be
left without consequences,” Anatoly Antonov, the ambassador to the
United States, said in a statement. “All responsibility for them rests
with Washington, London and Paris.”
Taking
umbrage at Mr. Trump accusing President Vladimir V. Putin in his speech
of not living up to a promise to disarm Syria of its chemical weapons,
Mr. Antonov added, “Insulting the president of Russia is unacceptable
and inadmissible.”
Pentagon Briefing After Trump Announcement
Pentagon officials spoke to reporters after President Trump announced airstrikes against Syrian targets.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.
Watch in Times Video »
In
choosing to strike, it appeared that Mr. Trump’s desire to punish Mr.
Assad for what he called a “barbaric act” — and to make good on his
tweets promising action this week — outweighed his desire to limit the
American military involvement in the conflict, at least in the short
term.
The
strikes marked the second time that Mr. Trump has attacked Syria to
punish the government after it was accused of using chemical weapons.
The White House had sought to create a response that would be more
robust than the attack in April 2017, when the United States fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air base that was back in use a day later.
Unlike last year, France and Britain joined the United States in retaliating for the suspected chemical attack last Saturday in the town of Douma,
outside Damascus, but Germany refused to take part, even though
Chancellor Angela Merkel called the use of chemical weapons
“unacceptable.”
Prime
Minister Theresa May of Britain said Syria had left the allies no
choice. “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 cannot allow
the erosion of the international norm that prevents the use of these
weapons,” she said.
But
she also emphasized the limits of the operation’s goals, reflecting the
reluctance in London as well as Washington to become too immersed in
the fratricidal war in Syria.
“This
is not about intervening in a civil war,” she said. “It is not about
regime change. It is about a limited and targeted strike that does not
further escalate tensions in the region and that does everything
possible to prevent civilian casualties.”
Defense
officials said that Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from at
least three American warships, while B-1 bombers dropped long-range
missiles on targets. French and British warplanes also fired long-range
missiles, while a British submarine launched cruise missiles.
Early
reaction to the strikes from Capitol Hill appeared to break down along
party lines, with Republicans expressing support for the president and
Democrats questioning whether Mr. Trump has a well-thought-out strategy
for what happens after the military action is over.
“President
Trump’s decision to launch airstrikes against the Syrian government
without Congress’s approval is illegal and — absent a broader strategy —
it’s reckless,” said Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, who has
long argued that presidents should request permission from Congress
before taking military action.
Representative
Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, said that “one
night of airstrikes is not a substitute for a clear, comprehensive
Syria strategy.”
Representative
Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House Republican majority whip, wrote
in a statement: “President Trump is right to assert that the Assad
regime’s evil acts cannot go unanswered.”
A
fact-finding mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons was to begin investigating the episode on Saturday in
Douma, which had been held by rebels before the suspected attack. The
mission’s job was only to determine whether chemical weapons had been
used, not who had used them.
We Asked Syrians About U.S. Airstrikes. This Is What They Said.
From the regime stronghold of
Damascus to battle-scarred opposition areas, Syrians sent audio
recordings to The Times in which they described what it’s like waiting
for an attack by the U.S.-led coalition.
By YOUSUR AL-HLOU, BARBARA MARCOLINI, NEIL COLLIER
and DREW JORDAN on
Publish Date April 13, 2018.
Photo by Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times.
Watch in Times Video »
Medical
and rescue groups have reported that the Syrian military dropped bombs
that released chemical substances during an offensive to take the town. A
New York Times review
of videos of the attack’s aftermath, and interviews with residents and
medical workers, suggested that Syrian government helicopters dropped
canisters giving off some sort of chemical compound that suffocated at
least 43 people.
At the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the world body, accused the Syrian government
of using banned chemical arms at least 50 times since the country’s
civil war began in 2011. State Department officials said the United
States was still trying to identify the chemical used on April 7.
Leaders
in Syria, Iran and Russia denied that government forces had used
chemical weapons, and accused rescue workers and the rebels who had
controlled Douma of fabricating the videos to win international
sympathy.
On
Friday, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense
Ministry, said images of victims of the purported attack had been
staged with “Britain’s direct involvement.” He provided no evidence.
Karen Pierce, Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations, called those allegations “bizarre” and “a blatant lie.”
Mr.
Mattis had sought to slow down the march to military action as allies
compiled evidence of Mr. Assad’s role that would assure the world the
strikes were warranted. Mr. Mattis also raised concerns that a concerted
bombing campaign could escalate into a wider conflict between Russia,
Iran and the West.
Before
the strikes, the United States had mostly stopped aiding Syria’s
rebels, like those who were in Douma, who want to topple Mr. Assad’s
government. The Pentagon’s most recent efforts in Syria have focused on
the fight against Islamic State militants in the country’s east, where
it has partnered with a Kurdish-led militia to battle the jihadists. It
is the roughly 2,000 American troops there that Mr. Trump has said he
wants to bring home.
In
his televised address on Friday night, Mr. Trump sought to repeat his
desire to disentangle the United States from the Middle East at some
point. “It’s a troubled place,” he said. “We will try to make it better,
but it is a troubled place. The United States will be a partner and a
friend, but the fate of the region lies in the hands of its own people.”
Russian
forces and Iranian-backed militias also are deployed around Syria to
help fight the rebellion — including the Islamic State and other
extremist groups — that has surged against Mr. Assad since the conflict
started.
Last
year’s American attack on Syria came after a chemical attack on the
village of Khan Sheikhoun killed scores of people. Mr. Trump ordered a
cruise missile strike against the Al Shayrat airfield in central Syria,
where the attack had originated. The base was damaged, but Syrian
warplanes were again taking off from there a day later.
Still,
the response set Mr. Trump apart from President Barack Obama, who
declined to respond with military force after a chemical weapons attack
in August 2013 killed hundreds of people near Damascus, even though Mr. Obama had earlier declared the use of such weapons a “red line.”
Mr.
Obama ultimately backed off a military strike and reached an agreement
with Russia to remove Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal. That agreement
was said to have been carried out, although a series of reported
chemical attacks since have raised doubts about its effectiveness.
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