Trump Promises Strike on Syria and Warns Russia Against Backing Assad

The meeting will take place in the wake of Trump’s tweet warning Russian Federation to “get ready” for “nice and new and smart'” missiles that “will be coming” to Syria.

A USA attack on Syria would be in a response to a chemical weapons attack on anti-government rebels, one that Trump and other officials blame on leader Bashar Assad.

President Donald Trump’s early morning tweets foreshadowing a USA airstrike on Syria quickly prompted the Twitterati to raise questions about US strategy in Syria.

“Get ready Russian Federation, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!'” Mr Trump said in an early morning tweet on Wednesday.

Cafarella said the United States must decide how far it wants to go in terms of hitting Iranian proxy forces near U.S. positions in eastern Syria, or even targeting Russian-supported facilities.

US President Donald Trump welcomes the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Khalifa Al-Thani (not pictured) at the White House in Washington, April 10, 2018.

President Bashar al-Assad’s government denies mounting a chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Duoma.

Officials of the Trump administration have been discussing with officials of France and Britain a possible joint military response to Syria’s alleged poison gas attack.

Mattis’ remarks at a House Armed Services Committee hearing followed a series of Trump tweets this week that initially indicated he was committed to bombing Syria but later suggested he was awaiting further advice and assessment.

That attack involved 59 Tomahawk missiles fired from two US warships in the Mediterranean Sea. He warned that Russian Federation and the US will quickly find themselves in a major conflict if they allow a collision in Syria to happen.

An even more threatening situation may evolve if the USA and its allies use manned aircraft, and the Russian strike results in casualties.

On Feb. 24, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2401 which called for a month-long cease-fire in Syria, especially in Eastern Ghouta to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid. “Even if the USA delivers a strike, this won’t change the power balance in Syria”, the MP said.

A spokesman said: “Cabinet agreed it was vital that the use of chemical weapons did not go unchallenged”. The tweet followed Russia’s warning that it will strike at incoming USA missiles and their launch platforms.

Targeted economic sanctions against Syria and its allies, Iran and Russian Federation could still be used. Syrian activists, rescuers and medics said the attack in Douma killed at least 40 people, with families found suffocated in their houses and shelters.

While the US, France and Britain have the latest-technology cruise missiles, the presence of Russia’s S-400 air defense system in Syria argues for caution.

White House officials refused to say if those moves reflect the possibility of prolonged US military action in Syria, or whether that action would amount to more than just a “one-off” airstrike.

Peskov added there were no plans for Putin to call Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron or UK Prime Minister Theresa May amid the crisis.

“We’re not going to leave until we know we’ve accomplished those things”, she said.

At a Pentagon news conference alongside Mattis, and with British and French military officers beside them to emphasize allied unity, Gen. Joseph Dunford said the attacks targeted mainly three targets in western Syria. The US Defence Department said it “does not comment on potential future military actions”.

Shortly after his tweeted warning to Russia, Trump took a more conciliatory tone in lamenting that the U.S. -Russia relationship “is worse now than it has ever been”.

The only objective of this action is to accuse the Syrian authorities as well as Russian Federation of committing this crime and use it as a pretext for armed intervention against legitimate Syrian government.

Assad has been blamed for previous attacks by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and UN-backed war crimes investigators.