Wand, 7 апреля 2017 г., 10:38
(Photo not found) The United States launched a military strike Thursday on a Syrian government target in response to their chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians earlier in the week. On President Donald Trump's orders, US warships launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian government airbase where the warplanes that carried out the chemical attacks were based, US officials said. 'Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on the air field in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched,' Trump said during short remarks to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, where he ordered the strike just hours earlier. 'It is in this vital national security of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.' He added: 'There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council. Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behaviour have all failed and failed very dramatically.' (Photo not found) The strike is the first direct military action the US has taken against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's six-year civil war and represent a substantial escalation of the US' military campaign in the region, which could be interpreted by the Syrian government as an act of war. - Shift in policy Trump's decision marked a dramatic shift in his position on whether the US should take military action against the Syrian President's regime, which Trump opposed during his campaign for president and came after the President was visibly and publicly moved by the images of this week's chemical weapons attack. The strike took place at 8:40 p.m. ET (3:40 a.m. local time), when there would be minimal activity at the base, and targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defence systems, and 'the things that make the airfield operate,' Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters. The missiles were launched from warships in the Eastern Mediterranean. 'Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment at Shayrat Airfield, reducing the Syrian Government's ability to deliver chemical weapons,' the Pentagon said in a statement. The US military also showed reporters Thursday night an image of the radar track of a Syrian airplane leaving the airfield and flying to the chemical strike area Tuesday. A second image of bomb damage craters at the airbase was also shown to reporters at the Pentagon. The strikes represented not only an escalation of the US role in Syria, but could have a ripple effect on the US' relations with the Syrian regime's powerful backer, Russia. Russians were present at the base the US struck Thursday night, a US defence official said, though the role of those Russians was not immediately known. Tillerson confirmed that the US military contacted their Russian counterparts about the attack ahead of time, in accordance with confliction policies between the US and Russia over military activities in Syria. Source: edition.cnn.com/2017/04/06/politics/donald-trump-syria-military/
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