PALM BEACH, Florida: President Donald Trump cast the US assault on a Syrian airbase as vital to deter future use of poison gas and called on other nations to join in seeking “to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria.”
The US blasted the airbase Thursday night with a barrage of cruise missiles in fiery retaliation for this week’s gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians.
It was the first direct American assault on the Syrian regime and Trump’s most dramatic military order since becoming president just over two months ago. The strikes also risk thrusting the US deeper into an intractable conflict that his predecessor spent years trying to avoid.
Announcing the assault from his Florida resort, Trump said there was no doubt Syrian President Bashar Assad was responsible for the chemical attack, which he said employed banned gases and killed dozens.
“Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children,” Trump declared.
The US strikes — 59 missiles launched from the USS Ross and USS Porter — hit the regime-controlled Shayrat Airbase in central Syria, where US officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off. The US missiles hit at 8:45 p.m. in Washington, 3:45 Friday morning in Syria. The missiles targeted the base’s airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas, officials said.
Trump ordered the strikes without approval from Congress or the backing of the UN. US officials said he had the right to use force to defend national interests and to protect civilians from atrocities.
Declaring it in America’s “vital national security interest” to prevent the spread of chemical weapons, Trump accused Assad of a “very barbaric attack” in which “even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered.”
“Tonight I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end this slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types,” Trump said.
Nine planes as well as munition and fuel depots were destroyed in the US strike but the runway was intact, the Russian state channel Rossiya24 reported from the scene.
“According to preliminary information, nine Syrian airplanes were destroyed,” its correspondent said in a report from the base, broadcast hours after the strike at 0040 GMT Friday.
Stores with ammunition and fuel were also targeted, he said, adding that a fire and some explosions were ongoing. “But not all equipment has been destroyed, there is some that was not impacted by the strike,” the correspondent said. “The landing strip... is practically not impacted,” he added.
Footage showed the runway intact but covered in debris, as well as two planes sitting in concrete hangars.
The aircraft were apparently not heavily damaged while some other hangars were charred and surrounded.
Officials said measures had been put in place to avoid hitting sarin gas they said was stored at the airfield.
“The airbase was almost completely destroyed — the runway, the fuel tanks and the air defenses were all blown to pieces,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Britain-based monitoring group said at least four servicemen were killed, including an air commodore.
Homs Gov. Talal Barazi told AFP there were several dead and wounded at the base and that large parts of it were on fire. “It will take some time to determine the extent of the damage,” he said.
Syrian state media confirmed the strike, with news agency SANA saying: “This American aggression follows the slanderous media campaign by some countries... after what happened in Khan Sheikhun.”
The US assault marked a striking reversal for Trump, who warned as a candidate against the US being pulled into the Syrian civil war that began six years ago. But the president appeared moved by the photos of children killed in the chemical attack, calling it a “disgrace to humanity” that crossed “a lot of lines.”
US officials placed some of the blame on Russia, one of Syria’s most important benefactors. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Florida with Trump, said Moscow had failed to live up to a 2013 agreement that was intended to strip Syria of its chemical weapons stockpiles.
“Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of the agreement,” Tillerson said.
Trump’s actions in Syria could signal to China that the new president is not afraid of unilateral military steps, even if key nations like China are standing in the way.
“This clearly indicates the president is willing to take decisive action when called for,” Tillerson said.
Trump has advocated greater counter-terrorism cooperation with Russia, Assad’s most powerful military backer. Just last week, the Trump administration signaled the US was no longer interested in trying to push Assad from power over his direction of a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and led to the worst refugee crisis since World War II.
US officials portrayed the strikes as an appropriate, measured response and said they did not signal a broader shift in the Trump administration’s approach to the Syrian conflict.
“The intent was to deter the regime from doing this again,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, the Pentagon spokesman. “It will be the regime’s choice if there’s any more, and it will be based upon their conduct going forward.”
Still, the assault risks plunging America into the middle of Syria’s conflict, complicating the safety of the hundreds of US forces fighting a separate campaign against Daesh in the north of the country. If Assad’s military persists in further gas attacks, the Trump administration might logically pursue increased retaliation.