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| U.S. Launches Military Strikes Against Syria | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 6 2017, 09:41 PM (212 Views) | |
| Webster | Apr 6 2017, 09:41 PM Post #1 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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.....reports coming in of U.S. military strikes against Syrian targets over the past hour in response to Tuesday's horrific gas attack in northern Syria..... (The Guardian) News is breaking that the US has launched missile strikes against Syria. NBC News reports that strikes were launched on al-Shayrat airfield, a Syrian military site close to Homs. Reports from NBC and CNN say more than 50 Tomahawk missiles were fired. This follows an apparent change of heart by Donald Trump over action in Syria, sparked by Tuesday’s chemical weapons attack in Idlib that killed more than 70 people. We will be following developments here on the live blog as they unfold. |
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| Webster | Apr 6 2017, 11:28 PM Post #31 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(Daily Telegraph) John Allen: 'This will not cause Russia backlash' --Retired General John Allen, the US envoy to the anti-Isil coalition under Barack Obama, has told Ruth Sherlock that the missile attack is intended to punish but not defeat Assad - and that this will not damage America's relationship with Russia. Gen Allen said that this is a relatively small target. "The damage to Assad is psychological more than physical," he said. "It will be stunning to Assad" that America has acted in this way, and "he will now have to think carefully every time" time he wants to launch attacks on his civilian population, Gen Allen said. Gen Allen said this would not prompt a backlash from Russia and Iran, who are supporting the Syrian regime. "Who will come up for air and say they are angry with the US for punishing the Syrians for killing civilians in the most horrible way a human can die?" He said that if anything this show of force would help to US regain power on the world stage. "We have this old saying that sometimes it's not a bad thing to just play the crazy American," Gen Allen said. "Not only does America have great power, but it typically demonstrates great restraint. But every now and then using that power gets everybody's attention. With this, Trump put the Assad regime on notice, and sent warning to the Putin, Jinping and Kim Jong-un regimes too." |
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| Webster | Apr 6 2017, 11:31 PM Post #32 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) What We Know Thus Far![]() --The US has launched a missile strike against Syria, targeting al-Shayrat airbase close to Homs, from where it said this week’s sarin nerve gas attack on Khan Sheikhun was launched. --The Pentagon said 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched from warships USS Ross and Porter in the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday at 8.45ET (Friday 3.45am Syria). --Donald Trump said the strike was a direct response to the chemical weapons attack that killed more than 70 people: Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syriafrom where the chemical attack was launched. It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention, and ignored the urging of the UN security council. Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically. --US secretary of state Rex Tillerson said Russia bore responsibility for its handling of the 2013 deal that was supposed to remove Assad’s chemical weapons stockpile: They would act as the guarantor that these weapons would no longer be present in Syria. Clearly Russia has failed in its responsibility to deliver on that commitment from 2013. Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent in its ability to deliver on its end of that agreement. --Tillerson said there had been “no discussions” with Moscow before or since the strike. --But the Pentagon confirmed that Russia – a key Assad ally – had been informed in advance of the strike through military channels: Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line. --The Pentagon also said it believes the strike has “severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure”. |
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| Webster | Apr 6 2017, 11:48 PM Post #33 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(Daily Telegraph) 'This was a predictable action by the new president' --Alex Ward from the Atlantic Council followed the Trump transition team, and now focuses on Donald Trump's foreign policy. He tells Ruth Sherlock that this was a predictable action by the new president. "Donald Trump has a coherent world view but no coherent foreign policy," he said. "When it comes to this his world view, it is 'America always needs to look tough'. Mr Ward said this was an opportunity to act in accordance with that view. He said the fact that Mr Trump didn't demonstrate his usual "bravado" in his first response to the chemical attack, indicated that he was intending to do something significant. He said that that this was unlikely to be part of any wider strategy over how to manage the conflict in Syria. |
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| Webster | Apr 6 2017, 11:52 PM Post #34 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() --This action in Syria was appropriate and just. My full statement... (Rep. Paul D. Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives - 6 April 2017) |
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| Webster | Apr 6 2017, 11:53 PM Post #35 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Tillerson: 'no change' in US policy on Syria --Secretary of state Rex Tillerson has insisted that the missile strikes – despite the sharp shift they represent from the previous stance taken by the Trump administration – are not in fact a change in US policy towards Syria: This clearly indicates the president is willing to take decisive action when called for. I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy or posture relative to our military activities in Syria today. There has been no change in that status. I think it does demonstrate that President Trump is willing to act when governments and actors cross the line and cross the line on violating commitments they’ve made and cross the line in the most heinous of ways. |
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| Webster | Apr 6 2017, 11:54 PM Post #36 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) Talal Barazi, governor of Syria’s Homs province, where al-Shayrat airbase is located, has told state TV that such strikes serve the purpose of terrorists, Reuters reports: Syrian leadership and Syrian policy will not change. This targeting was not the first and I don’t believe it will be the last … The armed terrorist groups and Daesh [Isis] failed to target the Syrian Arab Army and Russian military positions. The US strikes “targeted military positions in Syria and in Homs specifically” in order to “serve the goals of terrorism in Syria and the goals of Israel in the long run”, Barazi said. (The Syrian government describes all armed groups opposed to it as terrorists.) Barazi said there are not thought to be “big human casualties” at the airbase, though there is material damage as a result of the strikes. He said firefighting and rescue operations had been continuing for more than two hours. And he insisted that the airbase – which the US said was the site from which the sarin nerve gas attack on Khan Sheikhun was launched – was used to support Syrian regime operations against Isis. |
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| Webster | Apr 6 2017, 11:59 PM Post #37 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(Daily Telegraph) Tillerson: No change in US policy on Syria --The secretary of state has issued a statement suggesting that this morning's military strike on a Syrian regime air base is not an indication the US will lead to deep US involvement in the civil war: This clearly indicates the president is willing to take decisive action when called for and I think in this particular case the use of prohibited chemical weapons which violates a number of international norms and violates existing agreement called for this type of a response, which is a kinetic military response. I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy or our posture relative to our military activities in Syria today. There has been no change in that status. |
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| Webster | Apr 7 2017, 12:03 AM Post #38 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(Daily Telegraph) 'I am going to name my son Donald, if I have one' --Qusai Zakaria, is a Syrian activist who survived the chemical weapons attack in Moadamiya in 2013. Ruth Sherlock was speaking with him when he found out that Donald Trump had launched the missile strike against the military base. "Oh my dear god. Oh my God. Thank you so much!" he said, over and over. "I am going to name my son Donald, if I have one. This man is a hero. He has balls." "This is will give people hope. It's all about hope. This is a game changer; it's a new era that shows that America will actually do something. It shows there are real red lines in Syria. Like Donald Trump says; 'This is huge'." Mr Zakaria said he believed that the chemical attack in Idlib had been part of a new effort to take back this area, one of the last remaining rebel bastions in Syria. He said the regime had been trying to "spread terror" with the weapon, and so cause opponents to flee the country. He said in the days leading up to the attack, the regime had dropped some chlorine gas bombs in the area. "They were testing the waters," he said. "These were small attacks but they wanted to see how the Trump administration reacted," he said. When Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, said last week that the Syrian people should be left to decide whether to keep Assad, Mr Zakaria said, the regime took that to mean that the US didn't care. "A few days later they translated this belief into action on the ground with chemical weapons. It's a weapon of terror and sent an obvious message inside and outside of Syria that the regime is still here. That it feels it can do anything." If Mr Trump had not launched this attack, Mr Zakaria said, they were going to "turn Idlib into a slaughter house". |
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| Webster | Apr 7 2017, 12:04 AM Post #39 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(The Guardian) AP reports that the Syrian Coalition, an opposition group, has welcomed the US attack, saying it puts an end to an age of “impunity” and should be just the beginning. Major Jamil al-Saleh, a US-backed rebel commander whose Hama district was struck by a suspected chemical weapons attack, said he hoped the US attack on a government air base would be a “turning point” in the six-year war. |
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| Webster | Apr 7 2017, 12:05 AM Post #40 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(Daily Telegraph) US defence official calls strike on Syria a 'one-off' --The US cruise missile strike against Syria was a "one-off," meaning that it was expected to be a single strike with no current plans for escalation, a US defense official has told Reuters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he believed that the strike did not signal a major shift in Mr Trump's focus on domestic affairs. |
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| Webster | Apr 7 2017, 12:06 AM Post #41 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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(BBC News) Netanyahu: Strikes send a 'strong and clear' message --Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a statement saying he "fully supports" the strikes. "In both word and action, President Trump sent a strong and clear message today that the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated. Israel fully supports President Trump's decision and hopes that this message of resolve in the face of the Assad regime's horrific actions will resonate not only in Damascus, but in Tehran, Pyongyang and elsewhere." |
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| Webster | Apr 7 2017, 12:08 AM Post #42 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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--I was the lone vote against 2001 AUMF. Syria strikes are far beyond the scope of this war authorization. @SpeakerRyan needs to bring a vote. (Rep. Barbara Leee, D-CA -- 6 April 2017) |
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| Webster | Apr 7 2017, 12:09 AM Post #43 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() (Daily Telegraph) U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross, from which the missiles were launched |
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| Webster | Apr 7 2017, 12:10 AM Post #44 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America reporter: The man who was thought to be a neo-isolationist is now, just months into his presidency, projecting US military force abroad to enforce international norms and punish human rights abuses. If the president’s foreign policy outlook can shift so dramatically in just a few days, if not hours, will allies and adversaries interpret this as a sign of flexibility or incoherence? A cruise missile strike is a low-risk form of military action, but it also is of limited effectiveness. A White House official described this as a warning shot across Mr al-Assad’s bow. If the Syrian president continues to use chemical weapons or conduct conventional attacks that result in significant civilian casualties, will the US escalate its military intervention or back down and risk appearing weak? Thursday night was Mr Trump’s first significant foreign policy challenge, and it appears to have dramatically changed his outlook, his rhetoric and his resulting actions. The candidate who constantly spoke of putting America first ended his brief remarks Thursday night by calling for God’s blessings not just for his nation but for the “entire world”. This strike – and this change of attitude – may simply be a one-off event. Or, perhaps, an unlikely globalist has been born. |
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| Webster | Apr 7 2017, 12:16 AM Post #45 |
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Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
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![]() (Daily Telegraph) A combination image released by the U.S. Department of Defense which they say shows the impact crater associated with April 4, 2017 Chemical Weapons Allegation |
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