U.S. launches Tomahawk missiles into Syria

[WVPATX]

I believe 59 were launched at air base where chemical weapons are stored. It is believed the sarin gas that was used in the attack were stored at this air base. Fox is reporting that Trump did not talk with Putin either beforehand or after.

 

[PriddyBoy]

I believe 43 were launched at air base where chemical weapons are stored. It is believed the sarin gas that was used in the attack were stored at this air base. Fox is reporting that Trump did not talk with Putin either beforehand or after.

Two air bases out of many, I'm guessing/hoping Russia was out of the way. I further hope Russia will coordinate or get out and let us have the sky.

 

[WVU82_rivals]

 

[WVU82_rivals]

Trump unleashes military strikes against Assad airbase in Syria

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKBN1782S0?il=0


The U.S. military launched cruise missile strikes ordered by President Donald Trump against a Syrian airbase controlled by President Bashar al-Assad's forces in response to a deadly chemical attack in a rebel-held area, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

Facing his biggest foreign policy crisis since taking office in January, Trump took the toughest direct U.S. action yet in Syria's six-year-old civil war, raising the risk of confrontation with Russia and Iran, Assad's two main military backers.

Some 50 Tomahawk missiles were launched from U.S. Navy warships in the Mediterranean Sea, the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A target was identified as an airbase in Homs. Further details on the target and the results of the strikes were not immediately known.

Trump ordered the strikes just a day after he pointed the finger at Assad for this week's chemical attack, which killed at least 70 people, many of them children, in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun. The Syrian government has denied it was behind the attack.

Trump, who was attending a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida resort, said earlier on Thursday that "something should happen" with Assad as the White House and Pentagon studied military options.

U.S. military action put the new president at odds with Russia, which has air and ground forces in Syria after intervening there on Assad's side in 2015 and turning the tide against mostly Sunni Muslim rebel groups.

Trump has until now focused his Syria policy almost exclusively on defeating Islamic State militants in northern Syria, where U.S. special forces are supporting Arab and Kurdish armed groups.

The risks have grown worse since 2013, when Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor, considered and then rejected ordering a cruise missile strike in response to the use of chemical weapons by Assad's loyalists.

 

[WVPATX]

Two air bases out on many, I'm guessing/hoping Russia was out of the way. I further hope Russia will coordinate or get out and let us have the sky.

They have 6 military air bases based on what a former General is saying on Fox. He called it a limited strike sending a direct message to Assad.

He believes there is little risk to American troops there and believes both Assad and Russia will do nothing. He said if Assad tried to retaliate, we would simply take out their Air Force entirely. He said Russia would not want to get involved in any conflict with the U.S. but that Russia has two air bases in Syria they WILL NOT give up.

 

[WVU82_rivals]

 

[WVPATX]

NY Times reporting this sent a message to both Syria and North Korea that the new President may not be very patient.

 

[WVU82_rivals]

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/syria/airfields.htm

 

[WVU82_rivals]

USS Ross & USS Porter fired the missiles...

attacked Shaayrat...

had to be more targets...

60 is too many for a single base...

 

[WVU82_rivals]

 

[WVPATX]

Pentagon is reporting they are quite certain that no Russian forces were present at the air base we struck.

 

[WVU82_rivals]

http://live.reuters.com/Event/Syria_conflict


another thing you might not understand...

tomahawks have a shelf life...

an actual 'use or lose' date...

 

[WVU82_rivals]

The attack appears to have involved only missiles. U.S. fighter planes, if used, would have had to contend with a modest web of Syrian air defenses and potentially more advanced types of surface-to-air missiles provided by Russia.

One of Assad’s more prevalent systems, the S-200, was used to target Israeli jets last month, but missiles were intercepted by Israeli defense systems. The S-200 has a range of roughly 186 miles, according to U.S. military documents, and can hit targets flying at altitudes of around 130,000 feet.

Russian S-300 and S-400 missiles, located primarily around Khmeimim air base in western Syria, have a shorter range than the S-200, but have more-advanced radar systems and fly considerably faster than their older counterparts used by Syrian forces. The S-300 has a range of roughly 90 miles and could also be used to target incoming U.S. cruise missiles.

 

[WVPATX]

Fox now reporting the U.S. did notify Russia using the deconfliction protocol prior to the attack. Fox is also reporting the intent was to destroy the air base, not kill people or even the chemical stockpiles. I assume if we had bombed the stockpiles, sarin would have been released.

 

[WVU82_rivals]

59 Tomahawk missiles targeted 'aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage areas, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars': Pentagon spokeman

 

[WVU82_rivals]

Earlier Thursday, Tillerson suggested that the United States and other nations would consider somehow removing Assad from power, but he did not say how. Just a few days ago, the White House had said that removing Assad was not realistic with press secretary Sean Spicer saying it was necessary to accept the “political reality” in Syria.

“We are considering an appropriate response for this chemical weapons attack,” Tillerson said in Palm Beach, Fla., where Trump was meeting Thursday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “It is a serious matter. It requires a serious response,” he said.

Speaking later Thursday, Tillerson recalled a 2013 agreement with Syria to hand over its chemical stockpile and for Russia to monitor that Assad not renege on that deal: “Clearly, Russia has failed in its responsibility on that commitment. Either Russia has been complicit or has been incompetent on its ability to deliver,” he said.