White House "very confident" chemical weapons used in Syria attack
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders condemned this past weekend's suspected chemical attacks in Syria and said that President Trump is weighing his options for the United States' response to the aggression that has killed at least 40 people.
The White House is "very confident" that chemical weapons were used in the attack carried out by the Syrian regime.
"I'm not going to get ahead of what actions we may or may not take," Sanders said, adding that President Trump will come to a conclusion regarding the attacks in the near future.
Sanders said the attacks were "consistent" with Syrian President Bashar Assad's "established pattern of chemical weapons use" and rejected criticism that Mr. Trump's call to pull out U.S. troops from Syria emboldened Assad. She said anti-Assad efforts would not be degraded by pulling U.S. forces out of Syria.
"The chemical weapons attack by the Syrian regime against innocent civilians is horrifying," Sanders said. "The images, especially of suffering children have shocked the conscience of the entire civilized world."
She also noted that Mr. Trump has pointed out Russia's and Iran's role in the attacks, given their "material support" of the Assad regime. "It is also now clear that Russia has betrayed its obligations to guarantee the end of the Syrian regime's chemical weapons program," Sanders said.
In a Cabinet meeting Monday morning, Mr. Trump said he would come to a conclusion in the next 24-48 hours regarding the United States' response to the suspected attacks.
"This is about humanity, we're talking about humanity, and it can't be allowed to happen," Mr. Trump said. "We'll be making that decision very quickly, probably by the end of today. We cannot allow atrocities like that."
Separately, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said earlier Monday that he doesn't "rule out anything" in terms of retaliation against the Syrian government.