U.S. Launches Military Strike On Syria In Response To Chemical Attack
(CBSNEWS) -- The U.S. on Friday launched "precision" military strikes against targets inside Syria linked to recent chemical attacks, President Trump said in a statement from the White House.
The strike is the culmination of days of threats by President Trump against the Syrian government over a suspected chemical attack against civilians in Douma on the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday.
"A short time ago, I ordered the U.S. Armed Forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad," the president said from the White House.
"A combined operation with the armed forces of France and the United Kingdom is now under way," he continued.
Mr. Trump claimed the U.S. will have a "sustained" response to curtail Syria.
Mr. Trump also called out Iran and Russia.
"To Iran and Russia I ask, what kind of nation wants to be associated with the mass murder of innocent men, women and children?" Mr. Trump said. "The nations of the world can be judged by the fiends they keep."
Mr. Trump described a very specific type of target that the U.S. would go after, which are Syria's chemical weapon capabilities. That could be everything from aircraft that dropped chemical weapons to the headquarters that control the forces that drop the chemical weapons, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports.
The U.S. State Department said Friday that it has proof that Syria was behind the suspected chemical attack.
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