Trump’s ‘alt-right’ base reacts in horror while activists hail him a hero
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“As a firm Trump supporter, I say, yes, the pictures were horrible, but I’m surprised. Whatever Assad’s sins, he is secular. Previous interventions in the Middle East have made things worse rather than better.”
Rand Paul, the Republican senator for Kentucky, insisted Mr Trump should have sought approval from Congress.
Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate, agreed – stating that he had voted for military action in 2013, but “the president should have come to Congress before doing this”.
“He needs to come to Congress now to lay out his strategy for how we’re going to deal with Syria,” he said, “especially given the fact that there are so many US troops now on the ground there”.
But the actions won Mr Trump high praise from other top Republicans. Mitch McConnell, senate majority leader, announced yesterday that “America is back”, while John McCain, a Republican elder statesman, said it should reassure US allies – and frighten North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un.
“A lot of Arab countries are willing to be partners with us, as long as they can rely on us,” he said.
World leaders also voiced their support for the strikes. Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French foreign minister, said Russia and Iran needed to understand that supporting Mr Assad made no sense, and that the escalation of the US military role in Syria was a “warning” to “a criminal regime”.
François Hollande and Angela Merkel spoke by telephone. Both issued statements saying Mr Assad was solely to blame for the air strikes.
Numan Kurtulmus, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, said the international community should sustain its stance against the “barbarity” of the Syrian government.
Syrians themselves had mixed reactions, with some hailing an end to Mr Assad’s impunity while others said it would achieve nothing.
“Assad made a monumental miscalculation this time,” Adham Sahloul, a Syrian-American aid worker, told The Daily Telegraph from the southern Turkish town of Gaziantep. “The US’s response at the moment has been a slap on the wrist, but one that could change the calculus in Syria. The regime might just change its mind next time it thinks of targeting civilians.”
Kassem Eid, an activist who was injured in the chemical weapons attack in Moadamiya, told The Daily Telegraph: “I am going to name my son Donald, if I have one. This man is a hero. He has b---s. This will give people hope. It’s all about hope,” he said from Germany, where he now lives.
Arab social media users have started affectionately referring to Mr Trump as Abu Ivanka – meaning father of Ivanka, as a sign of respect and endearment. Others used the name Abu Ivanka alAmriki – Father of Ivanka the American to suggest he was now the main champion of the rebellion in Syria. One even Photoshopped a fez on the president’s head with the words: “We love you”.
A survivor of the latest chemical attack in Idlib in northern Syrian said he hoped the US missile attack could help put an end to regime air strikes, creating a safe area for civilians.
Alaa al-Youssef, a 27-year old resident of Khan Sheikhoun who lost more than 19 members of his family, said the US missile attack “alleviates a small part of our sufferings,” but he worried it will be like “aesthetics” to save face.
“What good is a strike on Shayart airbase alone while we have more than 15 other airbases?” he asked.
Many of Assad’s supporters continued to deny the government’s involvement in Tuesday’s attack, believing an air strike hit a rebel warehouse storing chemical agents.
Yesterday they mocked America for what they said was a limited response.
“Let’s be real here, Trump can’t do much than that,” said Ali Hamadan, who lives in the government-held city of Tartus. “He does a limited air strike, you cheer for him a little and that’s it.”