TRUMP WEIGHING MILITARY OPTIONS

The U.S. signalled it may take military action in Syria one day after President Donald Trump said a poison-gas attack that killed scores of civilians and drew international condemnation went beyond a “red line” for him.

Trump also suggested strongly that President Bashar Assad may have to leave power, and his comments were underscored by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who told reporters “there’s no role for him to govern the Syrian people.”

The Pentagon is actively developing military options for Syria, according to a U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The U.S. could use standoff weapons, such as Tomahawk cruise missiles, to target Syrian military sites, another U.S. official said.

Tillerson said Tuesday’s attack, which outside groups said bore the hallmarks of sarin gas, “is a serious matter. It requires a serious response.”

He said “steps are underway” to mobilize a coalition to remove Assad, but he also said that any such effort would likely come after Islamic State terrorists in the country are defeated and some stability returns to the Middle East country.

Trump is under increased pressure to act against Assad after the April 4 attack, which killed more than 70 people, including women and children. The U.S. president finds himself in a similar spot to his predecessor, Barack Obama, who also weighed a military response in 2013 after Assad launched a sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,000 people near Damascus.

Obama stepped back from open conflict after reaching an agreement with Russia to eliminate Assad’s chemical weapons stockpile.

Since then, Syria’s six-year civil war has only become more complex. Russia intervened on Assad’s behalf in late 2015, adding to a fight that now includes Iranian, Turkish, Syrian and extremist forces. Any U.S. escalation risks making a bad situation even worse.

The president is “being presented with a lot of options,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said earlier Thursday, adding that he wouldn’t preview those until Trump is ready to decide. He said the president has spoken to other leaders about the possibility of setting up “safe zones” to protect civilians. While hundreds of U.S. special forces are already inside Syria, those troops are focused on targeting Islamic State.

Republican Senator John McCain, a longtime proponent of removing Assad, said the administration should bomb runways to make sure the regime’s air force is grounded, though that could put the U.S. in direct conflict with Russian military. Senator Bob Corker, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, said more pressure should be put on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he said is supporting a “monster” and “war criminal” in Assad.

Referring to the attack and Assad’s role, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that “What happened in Syria is a disgrace to humanity. And he’s there, and I guess he’s running things. So something should happen.”

The flurry of activity followed Tuesday’s attack in the northwestern province of Idlib. Russian officials on Wednesday said it is too soon to assign blame for the attack, while Syria’s government said pilots bombed a rebel-controlled chemical weapons stockpile.

The chemical attack and the latest North Korea missile launch on Wednesday ahead of Trump’s summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping “are the most serious challenges he’s had to face as president,” said Nicholas Burns, a former undersecretary of state and a Harvard professor.

“He owns this,” Burns said. “President Obama is no longer the president and President Trump has to be the one that gives us a way forward. And we have not heard that.”

Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it’s vital the administration seek authorization of use of military force if Trump plans to take military action in Syria.

“It’s up to the president to tell us, to meet with us, explain it, get our confidence,” Cardin said. “Then it’s our responsibility for the Congress to weigh in in a timely way.”

Rex Tillerson