Taking Stock of the U.S.-Led Allied Strikes on Syria: Q&A

• April 14 2018
• Andrew J Barden

The U.S., U.K. and France launched strikes on Syria a week after U.S. President Donald Trump said there would be a “big price” to pay for the apparent use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the town of Douma, an attack that killed sc…

The U.S., U.K. and France launched strikes on Syria a week after U.S. President Donald Trump said there would be a “big price” to pay for the apparent use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the town of Douma, an attack that killed scores of civilians. Here’s what we know and what’s still to come:

What did they attack?

Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May released statements after the attack had begun, saying the missile strikes were focused on chemical weapons sites.

General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that naval and air forces struck three primary targets, including a chemical weapons research facility outside Damascus and a weapons storage area near Homs.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian war through activists on the ground, said installations belonging to the country’s elite Republican Guards were also targeted.

"This was not geared towards weakening Assad’s conventional military capabilities," said Kamran Bokhari, a senior fellow with the Center for Global Policy in Washington. It was "a little more than the symbolic strike from last year but steering clear of any major operation."

How did Syria react?

Syria said its air defenses responded to the airstrikes, which Dunford confirmed during his briefing. He said it was too early to say whether those systems managed to destroy any incoming missiles. The state-run SANA news agency called the attacks a "flagrant violation of international law.”

The attack "was a victory for Syria," former Syrian lawmaker Sharif Shehadeh said by phone from Damascus. "Instead of weakening the government, it only made it stronger," he said. "Trump did it to save face."

Are the attacks over?

May called it a “limited and targeted strike.” U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that “right now, this is a one-time shot and I believe it has sent a very strong message to dissuade him, to deter him." The U.K. Defense Ministry said the strikes were “successful.”

Still, Trump warned in his televised address of a readiness to “sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents,” though he didn’t specify what that meant.

How did Russia respond?

Russian officials denounced the attacks as aggression against Syrian ally Assad, but there was no sign of an immediate military response.

"Our worst apprehensions have come true. Our warnings have been left unheard," Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., wrote on Facebook. "We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences," he said, without elaborating.

"Insulting the President of Russia is unacceptable and inadmissible," he said, an apparent reference to Trump’s mention of President Vladimir Putin in his speech.

There was no immediate word of any Russian casualties and the strikes appeared to have taken place far from Russia’s bases near the Syrian coast. U.S. officials said they gave Russia no specific warnings of the attacks or the targets, but used the usual hotline with Moscow’s military to ensure the airspace was clear.

What’s next?

Macron will make a televised speech at 7 a.m. Paris time. In a written statement on Friday, he said parliament will hold a debate on the intervention. Under the French constitution, parliament must be informed within three days of all major military operations, but only gets a binding vote if they last more than four months.

Pentagon officials said they’ll provide more details about the strikes and their effectiveness at a briefing Saturday morning in Washington.

What about the U.K.?

May is likely to speak over the weekend to make her case for action, which is opposed by much of the public and the opposition Labour Party. She authorized the strikes without parliamentary backing and it’s not clear she would have got it if she’d sought it. Parliament refused U.K. participation in a planned punitive raid on Syria in 2013, one of the reasons then-U.S. President Barack Obama called it off.

On Thursday, May’s cabinet agreed on the need to respond. She will probably address Parliament -- where she doesn’t have a majority -- next week. Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong anti-war campaigner, has accused May of "waiting for instructions from President Donald Trump."

— With assistance by Gregory Viscusi, Donna Abu-Nasr, Gregory White, Emma Ross-Thomas, Alaa Shahine, Bill Faries, and Kevin Whitelaw