Late on Thursday evening, President Donald Trump ordered a cruise missile strike against Syria which was in retaliation for the chemical weapons attacked that left 86 people dead on Tuesday. Fifty to 60 Tomahawk missiles were fired from two U.S, warships, which were stationed in the Mediterranean Sea, and the target was Ash Sha’irat in the Homs province in western Syria. That location is said to house the airfield which launched the banned weapons, but what consequences may lie ahead for the U.S.?
. @POTUS “Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched.” (1/2)
— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) April 7, 2017
(2/2) It is in the vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread or use of deadly chemical weapons.
— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) April 7, 2017
Trump has called for other countries to band together to end the bloodshed in Syria and he is looking for more support in the battle ahead.
CNBC is reporting that the U.S. missiles hit aircraft and infrastructure, including the runway at the base in Syria. As of this writing, there is no word on any casualties as of yet, as reported by NBC News , but it is being said that people were not targeted.
Reports are coming out that Russia was made aware of the missile attack on Syria before it took place, and warnings were issued to President Trump. According to Express , Russia’s deputy UN envoy, Vladimir Safronkov , gave stern words about what could possibly happen if they followed through with their bombing plan.
“Think about negative consequences.
“We have to think about negative consequences, negative consequences, and all the responsibility if military action occurred will be on shoulders of those who initiated such doubtful and tragic enterprise.”
President Trump said that he was deeply moved by the images of dead children that perished in the chemical weapons attack and said that Syria “crossed many lines.” Still, when Safronkov was asked about what kind of negative consequences he was speaking of, he simply stated, “Look at Iraq. Look at Libya.”
Russia is Syria’s strongest ally and it is interesting to note that there were indeed Russians on the base which was targeted by the missiles tonight.
Pentagon says Russians at same air base in Syria were not targeted. Russians were informed about strike in advance, Pentagon spokesman says
— Marcus Weisgerber (@MarcusReports) April 7, 2017
In an interesting coincidence, on Thursday, Hillary Clinton also gave her first interview since losing the presidential election to Trump. It was during this interview that she also called for the United States to bomb Syria , according to Reuters .
Clinton did speak on the interference of Russia in the recent presidential election and considers it one of the worst scandals of all time. Still, with the matter at hand in Syria, Clinton stated that the U.S. needed to make a stronger stand and she feels as if she should have done more as the Secretary of State under President Barack Obama.
In the interview that went live within an hour before Trump called for the missile strike in Syria, Clinton said that more action against President Bashar al-Assad needed to be much more aggressive.
“I think we should have been more willing to confront Assad.
“I really believe we should have and still should take out his air fields and prevent him from being able to use them to bomb innocent people and drop sarin gas on them.”
Less than an hour later, the missiles had been launched.
Russia had no immediate reaction to the attack on Syria on Thursday evening, but many are calling for the nation to turn their back on the Assad regime and quit supporting it . Again, there were Russian soldiers on the base which was targeted by the U.S., even though Russia was aware of the attack before it took place.
According to the USA Today , Trump appears to believe that Syria is going to do nothing in retaliation for the missile attacks , and neither will Iran or Russia. Military planners for the U.S. took “precautions” before this attack to make sure that no people were targeted and that the bombing did not bring the country into another major war.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is said to have fired the banned weapons, which left almost 100 people dead, in the chemical weapons attack. President Donald Trump’s decision to fire the near five dozen Tomahawk missiles on Syria could bring about serious negative consequences for the United States, but it was a risk that he was willing to take. It is hard to know if Hillary Clinton would have made the same decision now, but in the past, she believed more action should have come against Assad.
[Featured Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]