Trump considering military strike on Syria

President Trump is considering military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government as a response to this week’s poison gas attack that killed more than 70 people, many of them children, in northern Syria.

Defense Secretary James N. Mattis is expected to present Trump with a list of options on a limited operation – likely an air strike - that would degrade Syria’s military’s capabilities and forces, hamper its ability to deliver chemical weapons and deter future use of banned nerve agents, according to U.S. officials.

Administration officials and top Pentagon officers are considering limited air attacks on military targets, including aircraft, airfields and other facilities, the officials said.

Any military action would seek to hobble Assad’s military capabilities while avoiding inadvertently hitting the Russian and Iranian troops that are mixed in -- and fighting alongside -- the Syrian military in many parts of the country.

It is an abrupt reversal for the Trump administration, which earlier this week indicated it was indifferent to whether Assad remained in power.

Top Congressional members have been briefed on current options for military action against Assad, officials said.

Pentagon planners went to work after an emergency meeting of the National Security Council on Wednesday night, one day after U.S radar and surveillance systems detected a fixed-wing Syrian aircraft drop bombs near a hospital in the rebel-held area around Khan Sheikhoun in northwestern province of Idlib, officials said.

Minutes later photos and videos emerged on social media that showed lifeless bodies of children, eyes open, sprawled on the ground alongside surviving victims with foam bubbling from their mouths as they gasped for air.

“That crosses many, many lines,” Trump said on Wednesday. “Beyond a red line — many, many lines.”

U.S. defense officials said they can use two U.S. warships on patrol in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to launch cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles from hundreds of miles offshore, well out of range of Syrian air defenses.

The U.S. Navy destroyer Porter, which launched Tomahawk missiles during the opening stage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is in the region, along with the guided-missile destroyer Ross.

The Pentagon also can use stealth aircraft to slip past Syrian advanced radar and defense systems, although as one U.S. defense official noted, “The use of manned aircraft would obviously increase the risk” to U.S. personnel.

The president has not sought congressional authorization to use military force to punish Assad’s government, which has strenuously denied using chemical weapons, blaming the rebels instead.

In 2013, months after President Obama had said Syria would cross a “red line” if it used chemical weapons, the White House came under intense pressure to respond after Assad’s forces used nerve gas that killed more than 1,400 people in a rebel held area in Damascus.

But Obama ultimately backed down, focusing instead on an international effort that officials said ultimately disarmed Assad of his chemical weapons arsenal and production facilities.

President Trump is considering military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government as a response to this week’s poison gas attack that killed more than 70 people, many of them children, in northern Syria.

Defense Secretary James N. Mattis is expected to present Trump with a list of options on a limited operation – likely an airstrike - that would degrade Syria’s military’s capabilities and forces, hamper its ability to deliver chemical weapons and deter future use of banned nerve agents, according to U.S. officials.

Administration officials and top Pentagon officers are considering limited attacks on Assad’s military targets, including aircraft, airfields and other facilities, the officials said. Top Congressional members have been briefed on current options for military action against Assad.

Trump is expected to meet Thursday night with National Security Council members at Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Any military action would aim to thread the needle of sending a message to Assad while also hobbling his military capabilities while avoiding inadvertently hitting numerous Russian and Iranian forces that are mixed in -- and fighting alongside -- the Syrian military in many parts the country.

It is an astonishing turn of events for the Trump administration, which earlier in the week was indifferent to the future of Assad.

Pentagon planners went to work after an emergency meeting of the National Security Council Wednesday night, one day after U.S radar and surveillance systems detected a fixed-wing Syrian aircraft drop bombs in the rebel-held area around Khan Sheikhoun in northwestern province of Idlib, U.S. officials said.

The location of the strike was a known hospital, the officials said, minutes later photos and videos emerged on social media alerting the world to the attack. The lifeless bodies of children, eyes-open, were seen were seen sprawled on the ground alongside surviving victims with foam bubbling from their mouths and they gasped for air.

“That crosses many, many lines,” Trump said on Wednesday. “Beyond a red line — many, many lines.”

U.S. defense officials said there are an array of options, including the use of two warships now on patrol in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to launch cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles from hundreds of miles offshore, well out of range of Syrian air defenses.

The U.S. Navy destroyer Porter, which launched Tomahawk missiles during the Shock and Awe stage of the Iraq War, is now in the region, along with the guided-missile destroyer Ross.

Another option is using stealth aircraft to slip Syrian advanced radar and defense systems, although as one U.S. defense official said: “The use of manned aircraft would obviously increase the risk”

The president has done little to seek public support or congressional votes for authorization to use military force to punish Assad’s government.

It is unclear what legal authority under which the White House could conduct such strikes against a sovereign nation without Congressional authority. The Pentagon for years has been relying on legal authority granted by Congress in 2001 to combat Al Qaeda and its affiliates. That authorization has been used to combat a range of militant groups but never a sovereign government.

Already GOP-leaders have described the need for military action in Syria. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) released a statement advocating ground Assad’s air force.

“This capability provides Assad a strategic advantage in his brutal slaughter of innocent civilians, both through the use of chemical weapons as well as barrel bombs, which kill far more men, women and children on a daily basis,” the statement. “The U.S. military, together with our allies and partners, has the capability to achieve this objective quickly, precisely, decisively, and in ways that control escalation.”

“This is a test of the new administration, but also for our entire country,” they said “Assad is trying to see what he can get away with. The rest of the region and the world is also watching to see how our country will respond, and what that means for them.”