Over the need to confront Assad
Three Syrian military airports most often used to launch air raids over Eastern Ghouta: Mezzeh and Dumayr near Damascus and Al-Seen near Homs, possibly the main target. Saturday’s chemical gas attack on Douma is thought to have been by helicopters from Dumayr base. Tiyas (or T4) is largest airbase in the country.
USA: USS Donald Cook, a guided-missile destroyer, off coast of Syria. USS Porter and Ross in North Atlantic. USS Harry S Truman carrier strike force en route from Virginia. Ten ships and two submarines ready by next week with 700 Tomahawks. F-15 and B-1 bombers available from bases in the Gulf. Some 2,300 troops on the ground in Syria, largely in the north. Undisclosed numbers of special forces. UK: Tornado GR4 fighter-bombers and Eurofighter Typhoon multi-role attack jets in RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Submarines carrying Tomahawks, including HMS Astute, reportedly heading in range of Syria. About 1,000 advisers and Special Forces in Iraq and northern Syria. FRANCE: Ten Rafale fighter-bombers in Jordan and Abu Dhabi with SCALP standoff missiles. Naval forces include carrier Charles de Gaulle. Special forces and advisers in Syria and Iraq.
RUSSIA: Up to 50 fixed-wing aircraft, including Sukhoi-24 and 25 fighterbombers, Sukhoi 30 fighters and Ilyushin-20 ground attack aircraft. Mi-24/35 attack helicopters. S-300 and S-400 air defence missile systems, linked to Syrian national air defence. Some 4,300 military personnel, plus several hundred mercenary volunteers.