Mattis won't rule out airstrikes against Assad's regime

Defense Secretary James Mattis on Monday said the United States is not ruling out launching airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. “I don’t rule out anything right now,” Mattis said during a photo spray when asked whether any actions are off the table. A missile struck an air base in Syria on early Monday morning several days after a suspected poison gas attack on Saturday in the suburbs of Damascus. At least 40 people were killed in Saturday‘s gas attack. The Assad regime launched a chemical attack in Syria last year. President Donald Trump recently said he wants to end the U.S. military presence in Syria “very soon” as he reaffirmed last week that his administration will make a decision on pulling troops out “very quickly.” The president over the weekend also denounced the latest chemical attack in Syria as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin for backing Assad. "Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay. Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!" the president tweeted Sunday. "If President Obama had crossed his stated Red Line In The Sand, the Syrian disaster would have ended long ago! Animal Assad would have been history!" Mattis said Monday the U.S. wants to examine the continued use of chemical weapons in Syria. “The first thing we have to look at is why are chemical weapons still being used at all when Russia was the framework guarantor of removing all the chemical weapons,” Mattis said. “And so, working with our allies and our partners from NATO to Qatar and elsewhere, we are going to address this issue.“ source: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/09/mattis-syria-airstrikes-508761 #Headlines by: rmorin@politico.com (Rebecca Morin)

Original Post: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/09/mattis-syria-airstrikes-508761