Politics

Donald Trump Just Announced That The US, UK And France Will Bomb Syria

Loud explosions have been heard in Damascus already.

by Max Koslowski  14 April 2018
Donald Trump

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US president Donald Trump has ordered targeted air strikes on the embattled state of Syria, after it emerged this week that the Syrian government most likely attacked the city of Douma with chemical weapons.

Trump told press on Friday evening that the US, UK and France will initiate a combined military response to the chemical attack.

“The evil and despicable attack left mothers, fathers, women and children thrashing in pain,” Trump said. “They are crimes of a monster”.

“America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria,” he continued. “We look forward to the day when we can bring our warriors home.”

Russia has denied that Syria carried out the chemical attack in rebel-held Douma, and has accused the UK of staging the attack in order to give the US an excuse to attack Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

It’s not yet clear how Russia, an al-Assad ally, will respond to the attack.

Immediately after the Trump announcement, the AP and Reuters reported loud explosions in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Dozens of people died in the Douma attack last week after a government aircraft dropped bombs that were filled with toxic material.

Over 400,000 Syrians have been killed in the eight years since civil war broke out in the Middle Eastern country. Over a million more have been injured, and 12 million have moved off from where they lived before the war.

Western leaders like France’s Emanuel Macron, and even ex-president Barack Obama, have consistently declared that the use of chemical weapons was a ‘red line’ in the Syrian conflict.

Following the apparent April 7 chemical attack, Macron declared that he will strike any chemical weapons sites found in Syria.

You can watch Trump’s full address here: