Developing: Trump Says He’s Hitting Syria By Rebekah Baker
April 10, 2018 at 11:21am
Following another suspected chemical attack in Syria over the weekend, President Donald Trump announced the United States’ plan to respond with force. “We’re making a decision as to what we do with respect to the horrible attack that was made near Damascus, and it will be met and it will be met forcefully,” the president told reporters during a Cabinet Room meeting with military leaders on Monday. “When, I will not say because I don’t like talking about timing.”
Trump was joined by his newly appointed National Security Advisor John Bolton, along with Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford.
Although the president wouldn’t specify exactly when the U.S. will respond, he said the group will “make a decision tonight or very shortly thereafter and you’ll be hearing the decision.”
twitter.com/foxandfriends/status/983655831928356864
The suspected chlorine gas attack killed dozens of Syrian civilians in the rebel-held suburb of Damascus.
“Syrian activists, rescuers and medics said the attack in Douma killed at least 40 people, with families found suffocated in their houses and shelters,” Fox News reported.
Trump said he will hold whoever was responsible for the attack accountable. “We can’t let atrocities like we all witnessed … happen in our world,” Trump said. “Especially when we’re able to — because of the power of the United States, because of the power of our country — we’re able to stop it.”
“If it’s Russia, if it’s Syria, if it’s Iran, if it’s all of them together, we’ll figure it out and we’ll know the answers quite soon.”
The government of Bashar al-Assad has denied using gas against its own people. “The Syrian government and Russia have vehemently denied involvement in the attack and accused rebels in Douma of fabricating the chemical attack claims in order to hinder the army’s advances and provoke international military intervention,” CNN reported.
On Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president still wants to pull troops from Syria once ISIS is defeated there.
“The president wants to bring our troops home after we complete the mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria,” Sanders said. “At the same time he wants to make sure Assad is deterred from chemical weapons attacks on innocent civilians. Signaling we want to remove our troops in no way degrades our ability to hold parties responsible.”
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