Trump strikes a chord at home
CRUISE MISSILES President’s order to attack Syria welcomed by most, but critics say he should’ve asked Congress
President Donald Trump may not have reached that place yet where the entire country rallies behind him, critics and all, but the strikes he ordered against the horrific chemical weapons attack in Syria on Friday might be the closest he has gotten to it, with reactions ranging from “welcomed” to “cautiously welcomed”.
Criticism, of which there was no shortage from both liberals and conservatives, came mostly on the grounds that the president’s actions — launching military strikes against another country — amounted to an act of war and he should have sought Congressional approval for it, as laid down in the constitution.
For the most part though, even Trump’s critics were supportive. The president was “right to strike at the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using a weapon of mass destruction, the nerve agent sarin, against its own people,” wrote Antony J Blinken, deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, in an op-ed in The New York Times, in which he went on to argue for the need for “smart diplomacy” now.
Blinken’s one-time boss Obama’s refusal to follow up on his threat of US retaliation when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad crossed a “red line” by ordering a chemical weapons attack in 2013 was among his most egregious foreign policy failures, and many in his administration and the party had felt frustrated by it.
Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was one of them, who had felt let down then. “Tonight’s missile strike was an appropriate response to Assad’s most recent chemical weapons attack on the Syrian people,” he said in a statement, adding, “War crimes have consequences.”
And there were those who wanted more. Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham praised the strikes and urged the president to go after “Assad’s air force — which is responsible not just for the latest chemical weapons attack, but countless atrocities against the Syrian people — completely out of the fight”.
Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the US Senate, was among those who offered cautious support.
But Tulsi Gabbard, the Democratic leader who is among the highest-ranking US functionaries to have met Assad in person recently, condemned the strikes saying it could lead to a “possible nuclear war between the United States and Russia”.
US informs its Russian counterparts of the impending attack to avoid any accident involving Russian forces. The US also notifies its partner countries in the region prior to launching the strikes
US fires 59 Tomahawk missiles at the air base, a small installation with two runways, where government aircraft often take off to bomb targets in northern and central Syria
The Pentagon says it attacked “aircraft, aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defence systems, and radars
Though the US targets some of Syria’s formidable air defences, it does not do so largely beyond Shayrat or in a sustained barrage, as it typically does In both word and action, President Trump sent a long and clear message that the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated Tehran considers this excuse for unilateral action as dangerous, destructive and violation of fundamental principles of international law Damascus The UK fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack IRAQ
Inhaled or absorbed through the skin, the gas kills by crippling the respiratory centre of the central nervous system and paralyzing the muscles around the lungs
WHO says sarin is 26 times more deadly than cyanide gas, and a pinprick-sized droplet will kill a human
Inhalation of around 200 milligrams may cause death "within a couple of minutes," with no time even for symptoms to develop
Even when it does not kill, sarin's effects can damage a victim's lungs, eyes and central nervous system
Heavier than air, the gas can linger in an area for up to six hours