14:01
- ABC News
- April 14, 2018
Trump orders strike on Syria after chemical attack
The strike comes as Trump has alluded to military action in Syria all week.
14:01
Trump has reportedly been moved by images of the suspected chemical weapons attack on the Syrian city of Douma outside of Damascus all week, calling it \"atrocious.\"
\"We cannot allow atrocities like that. Cannot allow it,\" Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting on Monday, adding he expected to make a decision on a response in the next 24 to 48 hours.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/syria-brief2-abc-180413_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Images showed victims of the attack foaming at the mouth.
Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford met with the president at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Syria. There were additional National Security Council meetings on Thursday and Friday.
Trump also spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May several times by phone this week. The administration said previously any response Assad's alleged chemical weapons use would be done in consultation with allies.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/syria-briefing-gty-hb-180413_hpEmbed_3x2_384.jpg\")
In a statement Friday night, May called last weekend's chemical attack \"pure horror.\"
\"The Syrian regime has a history of using chemical weapons against its own people in the most cruel and abhorrent way,\" May said. \"And a significant body of information including intelligence indicates the Syrian Regime is responsible for this latest attack.\"
May held a press conference with reporters early Saturday morning for about 40 minutes, taking dozens of questions from reporters.
\"There is no graver decision for a prime minister than to commit our forces to combat. And this is the first time that I've had to do so,\" May said.
May said the attack was designed specifically to damage chemical weapons facilities and \"was not about interfering in a civil war\" or \"regime change.\" She said the best option remains a \"political solution.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/map-syria-stikes-april2018-nc-ps-180413_hpEmbed_7x8_384.jpg\")
Perhaps in preparation for a strike, Syria repositioned some of its aircraft from bases earlier in the week, a U.S. official told ABC News. A second official said the Syrian military had gone into an increased defensive posture.
Macron, meanwhile, said the response is \"limited to the Syrian regime's capabilities to produce and use chemical weapons.\"
\"We cannot tolerate the normalization of the use of chemical weapons, which is a direct threat to the security of the Syrian people and our collective security,\" he said.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/syria-destruction-ap-mem-180206_hpMain_2_4x3t_384.jpg\")
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization said that during the shelling of Douma, \"an estimated 500 patients presented to health facilities exhibiting signs and symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals.\"
\"More than 70 people sheltering in basements have reportedly died, with 43 of those deaths related to symptoms consistent with exposure to highly toxic chemicals,\" the organization said. \"Two health facilities were also reportedly affected by these attacks.\"
On Friday, U.S. Ambassador the United Nations Nikki Haley said analysis done by the U.S., U.K. and France proved the chemical attack. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert also confirmed the use of chemical weapons, but said the U.S. was still “looking into” the “exact kind or the mix” of agent used.
Despite the air strikes Friday, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it will continue its fact-finding mission in Syria to \"establish facts around the allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma.\"
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