PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The United States is vowing to keep up the pressure on Syria after the intense nighttime wave of missile strikes from U.S. ships, despite the prospect of escalating Russian ill will that could further inflame one of the world’s most vexing conflicts.
Standing firm, the Trump administration on Friday signaled new sanctions would soon follow the missile attack, and the Pentagon was even probing whether Russia itself was involved in the chemical weapons assault that compelled President Donald Trump to action. The attack against a Syrian air base was the first U.S. assault against the government of President Bashar Assad.
Much of the international community rallied behind Trump’s decision to fire the cruise missiles in reaction to this week’s chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of men, women and children in Syria. But a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the strikes dealt “a significant blow” to relations between Moscow and Washington.
At the United Nations, Russia’s deputy ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, strongly criticized what he called the U.S. “flagrant violation of international law and an act of aggression” whose “consequences for regional and international security could be extremely serious.” He called the Assad government a main force against terrorism and said it deserved the presumption of innocence in the chemical weapons attack.
U.S. officials blame Moscow for propping up Assad.
“The world is waiting for the Russian government to act responsibly in Syria,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said during an emergency Security Council session. “The world is waiting for Russia to reconsider its misplaced alliance with Bashar Assad.”
Haley said the U.S. was prepared to take further action in Syria but hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that King Salman complimented Trump in a telephone conversation for his “courageous decision.”
Saudi Arabia, one of the most vehement opponents of Assad, said the missile barrage was the right response to “the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it.”
In Florida with the president, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said additional economic sanctions on Syria were being prepared.
Thursday night’s strikes — some 60 cruise missiles fired from two ships in the Mediterranean — were the culmination of a rapid, three-day transformation for Trump, who has long opposed deeper U.S. involvement in Syria’s civil war. Advisers said he was outraged by heartbreaking images of young children who were among the dozens killed in the chemical attack.
The decision undercut another campaign promise for Trump: his pledge to try to warm relations with Moscow. After months of allegations of ties between his election campaign and the Kremlin — the subject of current congressional and FBI investigations — Trump has found himself clashing with Putin.
On Friday, senior U.S. military officials were looking more closely at possible Russian involvement in the poison attack. Officials said a drone belonging to either Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site after the assault earlier this week. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say the hospital was targeted.
The officials, who insisted on anonymity in order to discuss the sensitive matter, said they believe the hospital attack may have been an effort to cover up evidence of the earlier assault.
White House officials caution that Trump is not preparing to plunge the U.S. deeper into Syria. Spokesman Sean Spicer said the missile attack sent a clear message to Assad, but he avoided explicitly calling for the Syrian to leave office.
The impact of the strikes was also unclear. Despite intense international pressure, Assad has clung to power since a civil war broke out in his country six years ago, helped by financial and military support from both Russia and Iran. Russian military personnel and aircraft are embedded with Syria’s, and Iranian troops and paramilitary forces are also on the ground helping Assad fight the array of opposition groups hoping to topple him.
Trump spent Friday in Florida, in private meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. U.S. officials noted that the timing of the strike had the possible added benefit of signaling to China that Trump is willing to make good on his threat to act alone to stop North Korea’s nuclear pursuits if Beijing doesn’t exert more pressure on Pyongyang.
The missile strikes hit the government-controlled Shayrat air base in central Syria, where U.S. officials say the Syrian military planes that dropped the chemicals had taken off.
Trump’s decision to strike Syria won widespread praise from other nations. Not everyone was cheering in Washington, where the president’s decision to act without congressional authority angered a mix of libertarian Republicans, Democrats and the far right.
___
Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Vivian Salama in Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
___
Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
She sounds like a 7th grade ESL student.
i might be willing to take this serious IF the missiles had actually done any REAL DAMAGE to the airfield already in use.
and if Putin wasn’t called and advised of the attack thus alerting the Syrian government who were able TO MOVE ALL THEIR FUNCTIONING fighters out of harms way.
and if the Russians Syria’s greatest allies had used their s-300’s and their s-400’s missile defense systems which would have destroyed ALL incoming missiles.
and if the puppet didnt lie about his reasons for doing things every time he opens his mouth…but…other than that…i cant understand why anyone might be suspicious of how it all went down.
Meaningless act of well-timed distraction.
What pressure? We tell them in advance of the missile attack, Assad has plenty of time to move assets and personnel; after strike video shows that the runway is not hit, hangers and ammo bunkers and more importantly military jets, are un-touched. So we blow up a few barracks and latrines and a mess hall. This was done for pure domestic political purposes by a “president” who has had a horrible first 70 or so days. And now Trumpski knows all he has to do to look “Presidential” in the eye of the main stream media is to bomb an empty air field. We will see more of this, as empty, un-focused military action replaces Tweets as his preferred method of distraction.
Considering the timing of this event–in the midst of an escalating Russia collusion scandal and cratering support and poll numbers–and the fact this action is exactly opposite what DJT has been shouting for years, I’m not inclined to believe he was moved by the photos of harmed and dead children to take this action. How I would like to be wrong.