Pence: U.S. morally right to respond to chemical attack
Vice President Mike Pence said the United States did the morally right thing when it attacked Syrian chemical weapons facilities in retaliation for an attack on civilians — and it could happen again.
Pence credited the strong leadership of President Trump and U.S. allies for conducting what he says was a successful strike with no reported civilian casualties.
He told reporters at the Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, yesterday that the operation “significantly eroded” and “degraded” Syrian chemical weapons capabilities and that the mission was “completely accomplished.”
He also stressed that the president made clear the U.S. is “prepared to sustain this effort.”
He added there will be a price to pay if Syrian chemical weapons are used again. Last weekend’s suspected chemical attack killed 40 civilians, including women and children.
He said the strike was “effective, overwhelming and successful,” and that Syrian President Bashar Assad “and his patrons would do well not to test our resolve” to deter the use of chemical weapons in the future.
“Today, we call upon every nation in this hemisphere of freedom to support this military action taken by the United States and our allies, and to support it publicly. We will not accept such barbaric attacks now or ever,” Pence said at the summit, according to a pool report.
As for next steps for the summit, Pence said the U.S. would be submitting a bid to host the ninth Summit of the Americas and repeated a familiar line about the Trump doctrine: “America First does not mean America alone.”
He also mentioned security threats including drugs, gangs, “migrants feeling hardship and oppression in their homelands,” and said there were “real challenges for security at our borders,” including terrorists crossing into the U.S.