U.S. mulls response to ‘horrible’ attack

Trump vows ‘big price’ for strike by Syrian forces

WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump said Monday that his administration would be making “major decisions” about its response to a suspected chemical attack in Syria within the next 24 to 48 hours, decrying the action as “atrocious” and “horrible.”

“We are very concerned when a thing like that can happen,” Trump said at the outset of a cabinet meeting. “This is about humanity, and it can’t be allowed to happen.”

U.S. officials said Sunday that they were weighing options to strike Syrian government targets after at least 40 people were killed in the opposition-held town of Douma, roughly 16 km from the Syrian capital.

Trump said Sunday on Twitter that there would be a “big price to pay” for the attack. His comments on Monday were his first public remarks on the subject.

“If it’s the Russians, if it’s Syria, if it’s Iran, if it’s all of them together, we’ll figure it out,” Trump said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that Russian aid workers had visited the area and found no evidence that chemical weapons were used.

Russia is Syria’s main military partner and ally and has protected Syrian President Bashar Assad both militarily and diplomatically for years.

Russia helped the United States negotiate an agreement with Assad five years ago that was supposed to rid the country of chemical weapons, and the United States and other nations have held Russia responsible for allowing Assad to retain and use these weapons.

Asked by a reporter if he had any doubt who was behind the attack, Trump said: “To me there’s not much a doubt, but the generals will figure it out.”

He said “nothing is off the table” when asked if U.S. military action is an option.

Trump said it has been “very hard to get people in” to determine what happened, which he said was a sign of Syria’s culpability.

Meanwhile, Syria and Russia blamed Israel for airstrikes on a Syrian airbase Monday that reportedly killed 14 people, including four Iranians.

The timing of the airstrikes in Homs province raised questions about whether Israel was acting alone or as a proxy for the U.S. Israel did not comment on the missile strike. The Jewish State typically does not comment on its airstrikes in Syria, which have been numerous in Syria’s civil war.

The developments threatened to further hike tensions between the U.S. and Russia, which has in the past warned against any U.S. military action against President Bashar Assad’s government. Iran, a key ally of Assad, condemned the airstrikes, which it said killed four Iranians.