U.S. vows more Syria pressure
But tensions with Russians take a hit after missile attack
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The United States vowed Friday to keep the pressure on Syria after the intense nighttime wave of missile strikes from two U.S. Navy destroyers, despite the prospect of escalating Russian ill will that could further inflame one of the world’s most vexing conflicts.
From the United Nations to Capitol Hill to the Pentagon, U.S. officials said the attacks were justified in targeting the Shayrat air base that was used to launch a chemical weapons attack that killed at least 87 people, including 31 children, in Syria’s Idlib province Tuesday.
The Trump administration signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon looked at whether Russia was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled President Donald Trump to action.
The attack against a Syrian air base was the first U.S. assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.
A U.S. official said all but one of the 59 missiles struck their targets, hitting multiple aircraft and air shelters, and destroying the fuel area. But Russia said just 23 of 59 U.S. missiles reached the air base, destroying six Syrian jets but leaving the runway intact.
The Syrian military said at least seven people were killed and nine wounded in the U.S. attack.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition monitor, said the seven included a general and three soldiers.
Assad’s office called the U.S. missile strike “reckless” and “irresponsible.”
But much of the international community rallied behind Trump’s decision to fire the cruise missiles in reaction to the chemical weapons attack in the rebelheld area around the town of Khan Sheikhoun.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the strikes dealt “a significant blow” to relations between Moscow and Washington. Russia also said Friday it was cutting a hot- line intended to prevent Russian/U.S. midair incidents over Syria.
At the United Nations, Russia’s deputy ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, criticized what he called the U.S. “flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression” whose “consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious.”
He called the Assad government a main force against terrorism and said it deserved the presumption of innocence in the chemical weapons attack.
U.S. officials blame Moscow for propping up Assad.
“The world is waiting for the Russian government to act responsibly in Syria,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said during an emergency Security Council session. “The world is waiting for Russia to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad.”
Haley said the U.S. was prepared to take further action in Syria but hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.
In Florida with the president, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, “We will be announcing additional sanctions on Syria as part of our ongoing effort to stop this type of activity and emphasize how significant we view this.”
Thursday night’s strikes — 59 Tomahawk missiles fired from the USS Porter and USS Ross in the Mediterranean — were the culmination of a rapid, three-day transformation for Trump, who has long opposed deeper U.S. involvement in Syria’s civil war.
Advisers said he was outraged by heartbreaking images of children who were among the dozens killed in the chemical attack and ordered his national security team to swiftly prepare military options.
The decision undercut another campaign promise for Trump: his pledge to try to warm relations with Moscow. After months of allegations of ties between his election campaign and the Kremlin — the subject of current congressional and FBI investigations — Trump has found himself clashing with Putin.
On Friday, senior U.S. military officials said a drone belonging to either Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site after the assault earlier this week. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say the hospital was targeted. The officials, who insisted on anonymity, said they thought the hospital attack may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the earlier assault.
White House officials caution that Trump is not preparing to plunge the U.S. deeper into Syria. Spokesman Sean Spicer said the missile attack sent a clear message to Assad, but he avoided explicitly calling for Assad to leave office.
“The president believes that the Syrian government, the Assad regime, should at the minimum agree to abide by the agreements they made to not use chemical weapons,” Spicer said when asked if Assad should step down.
Trump spent Friday in Florida, in private meetings with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The strikes hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base in central Syria, where U.S. officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off. The missiles targeted airstrips, hangars, control tower and ammunition areas, officials said. By Julie Pace Associated Press