President Trump said an American missile strike against Syrian government airfields Thursday evening was in the “vital national security interest” of the U.S.
Speaking from Mar-a-Lago Thursday, Trump again condemned the chemical attack the Assad regime launched against civilians earlier this week. That attack prompted Trump to order the missile strike against the Syrian airfield, which was launched from a U.S. Navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea.
“It is in this vital national security interest of the U.S. to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons,” Trump said. “There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligation under the chemical weapons convention and ignored the urging of the United Nations Security Council.”
On Wednesday, Trump had said the carnage from Syrian President Bashar Assad’s attack had “changed” his attitude toward the Syrian conflict. While Trump had struck a non-interventionist tone during the campaign, chastising members of his own party for supporting past involvement in protracted conflicts, he vowed this week that the Assad regime would be punished for its aggression against civilians.
His military strike comes just days after the White House signaled that the administration no longer saw regime change in Syria as a realistic option for the U.S.
“Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically,” Trump said. “As a result, the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize.”
The White House sought this week to pin blame for the chemical attack on the Obama administration, arguing Trump’s predecessor failed to neutralize the threat Syria’s president posed to his own people when the U.S. had the chance
Trump urged other countries to join the U.S. in stopping Assad’s aggression in the Syrian civil conflict.
“Tonight, I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types,” he said.
The president used strong language to slam the sarin gas attack on Syrian civilian that claimed dozens of lives and left more than 100 others injured on Monday.
“Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children,” Trump said. “It was a slow and brutal death for so many, even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.”
“Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike on an airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched,” he added.
