Mattis: Syria 'ill-advised' to use chemical weapons ever again
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washingtonexaminer.com
Mattis: Syria 'ill-advised' to use chemical weapons ever again
David Brown
Last week's cruise missile strike took out 20 percent of Syria's operational military aircraft, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in a statement Monday, adding that the "Syrian government would be ill-advised ever again to use chemical weapons."
"The assessment of the Department of Defense is that the strike resulted in the damage or destruction of fuel and ammunition sites, air defense capabilities, and 20 percent of Syria's operational aircraft," Mattis said. "The Syrian government has lost the ability to refuel or rearm aircraft at Shayrat airfield and at this point, use of the runway is of idle military interest."
Before the Mattis statement, it had been unclear the extent of the damage to the airfield, which was used as a launching point for last week's chemical attack on Syrian civilians in Idlib province. The Pentagon had estimated that about 20 warplanes on the airfield had been destroyed, but the 20 percent figure puts the damage in broader context.
Mattis called the strike, involving 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from two U.S. Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean, "a measured response to the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons."
"The president directed this action to deter future use of chemical weapons and to show the United States will not passively stand by while Assad murders innocent people with chemical weapons, which are prohibited by international law and which were declared destroyed."
The Mattis statement came as White House press secretary Sean Spicer signaled the administration's openness to striking again if Assad continues to attack civilians.
"The sight of people being gassed and blown away by barrel bombs ensures that if we see this kind of action again, we hold open the possibility of future action," Spicer said. Spicer's comments on barrel bombs seem to suggest that Washington is lowering the threshold for the use of force against Assad, which until now had been limited to the use of chemical weapons against civilians
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