Gen. Mattis Says Military Strikes Were Targeted Against Chemical Weapons

By Susie Madrak — April 14, 2018

I'll say what we're all thinking: Was this Operation Wag The Dog?

After all, Assad's been using chemical weapons all along. Why the U.S. military strike now?

And there is, as always, that pesky little problem of military action without Congressional approval -- as someone once pointed out:

A reminder, "Defense Secretary Mattis" pic.twitter.com/GoGiPj8PLb

— Cornelia (@PaladinCornelia) April 14, 2018

Under Mattis' broad definition of US vital interest, it seems a president probably could mount an attack anywhere.

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) April 14, 2018

Trump said the strike was the beginning of a "sustained attack." Mattis says this was a one-time strike to cripple Assad's chemical weapons capabilities.

Sec. Mattis on apparent chemical attack in Douma: "We are very much aware of one of the agents. There may have been more than one agent used -- we are not clear on that yet. We know at least one chemical agent was used." https://t.co/bTaJ40jGwj pic.twitter.com/5inNqw9qPc

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 14, 2018

Mattis: We expect a disinformation campaign from Russia.

— Chris Sampson (@TAPSTRIMEDIA) April 14, 2018

A quick observation on Syria: all this reporting is UTTERLY POINTLESS as it's a precision strike which means YES MATTIS HAD IT HIS WAY and Bolton was sent packing.

— Ale (@aliasvaughn) April 14, 2018

Important: LtGen McKenzie indicates last night's strike did NOT eradicate all of Assad's chemical weapons. "There's some left, but we dealt them a severe blow."

— Andrew deGrandpre (@adegrandpre) April 14, 2018

"You're going to end up in World War III over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton.” — Donald Trump, October 26, 2016

— Simran Jeet Singh (@SikhProf) April 14, 2018

Explore more

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.

Latest