Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Politics
posted by martyb on Friday April 07 2017, @02:40AM   Printer-friendly
from the things-that-go-fast-and-go-boom dept.

Following reports of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, President Trump authorized the launch of Tomahawk cruise missiles against a base in Syria. The Russian government was notified prior to the launch as they have resources in the area that was attacked.

According to NBC News:

The United States launched dozens of cruise missiles Thursday night at a Syrian airfield in response to what it believes was Syria's use of banned chemical weapons that killed at least 100 people, U.S. military officials told NBC News.

Two U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired 59 Tomahawk missiles intended for a single target — Ash Sha'irat in Homs province in western Syria, the officials said. That's the airfield from which the United States believes the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fired the banned weapons.

There was no immediate word on casualties. U.S. officials told NBC News that people were not targeted and that aircraft and infrastructure at the site were hit, including the runway and gas fuel pumps.

Also at Al Jazeera:

The United States has launched 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles against Syrian government targets in retaliation for what the Trump administration charges was a Syrian government chemical weapons attack that killed scores of civilians, a US official says.

The targets hit from US ships in the Mediterranean Sea included the air base in the central city of Homs from which the Syrian aircraft staged Tuesday's chemical weapons attack, the US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

[...] He [Trump] called on "civilised nations" to join US in "seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria".

Syrian state TV said "American aggression targets Syrian military targets with a number of missiles".

The poison gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province on Tuesday killed at least 86 people, including 27 children, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Turkey said samples from victims of Tuesday's attack indicate they were exposed to sarin, a highly toxic nerve agent.

The New York Times adds:

The Pentagon informed Russian military officials, through its established deconfliction channel, of the strike before the launching of the missiles, the official said, with American officials knowing when they did that that Russian authorities may well have alerted the Assad regime. "With a lot of Tomahawks flying, we didn't want to hit any Russian planes," he said.

[...] It was Mr. Trump's first order to the military for the use of force — other operations in Syria, Yemen and Iraq had been carried out under authorization delegated to his commanders — and appeared intended to send a message to North Korea, Iran and other potential adversaries that the new commander in chief was prepared to act, and sometimes on short notice.

The airstrikes were carried out less than an hour after the president concluded a dinner with Xi Jinping, the president of China, at Mar-a-Lago, sending an unmistakably aggressive signal about Mr. Trump's willingness to use the military power at his disposal.

Mr. Trump authorized the strike with no congressional approval for the use of force, an assertion of presidential authority that contrasts sharply with the protracted deliberations over the use of force by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.

[...] Mr. Trump moved with remarkable speed, delivering the punishing military strike barely 72 hours after the devastating chemical attack that killed 80 people this week.

Wikipedia notes: Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war .

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Friday April 07 2017, @05:25PM (3 children)

    by Lagg (105) on Friday April 07 2017, @05:25PM (#490361) Homepage Journal

    You're such a horrible piece of shit that I don't want to read the replies because people here are good at breaking down horrible pieces of shit and it's going to make me cringe.

    Reason I say piece of shit is - you are what resulted in Trump. Troll account or not, I hope no one forgets that. This bullshit here, you were the ones that elected Trump more than rural people or electoral college.

    Next election. Make sure to vote democrat. Always vote democrat. Because teh evil white men. You party line country ruining fuck. Just ignore the global corruption and always vote democrat. That'll fix it! If you just changed your flag color you'd fit in fine with the "BUT WHAT ABOUT OBAMA" and "MELANIA 2026" people.

    Whatever dumbass rated this insightful might as well rate this post insightful while they're at it. And then go find a world as boring and black & white as the one you and parent seem to want to exist. Because you are sure as hell not needed in this one.

    --
    http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 07 2017, @08:38PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 07 2017, @08:38PM (#490509)

    Ah, the old "I'm so tired of being called a racist that I voted for the only candidate in recent history to be unapologetically racist" chestnut.
    It never gets old.

    • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Friday April 07 2017, @09:33PM (1 child)

      by Lagg (105) on Friday April 07 2017, @09:33PM (#490535) Homepage Journal

      Proving my point again about both of you being two halves of the same kind of bigoted retard willfully discarding critical thought and casting the same accusation on the other group. But no. I don't vote for aspiring dictators. Which includes Trump and Clinton as comforting as it is for people to pretend otherwise.

      and honestly. Assuming people have called me racist? Oh yeah that happens all the time. Completely tired of it. It's like the second most common accusation I get next to being a shill for the pharmaceutical industry.

      No but seriously you're a dumbass.

      --
      http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
      • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Friday April 07 2017, @09:41PM

        by Lagg (105) on Friday April 07 2017, @09:41PM (#490541) Homepage Journal

        Man I feel less guilty and betraying of my country for not voting now. Thanks AC. I needed that after these recent months. :D

        --
        http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿