President Trump ordered a cruise missile strike against a Syrian Air Force airfield on Thursday, April 6 at 7:40 pm CST (4:40 am, April 7, in Syria). The strike targeted Shayrat Airfield in Homs governorate in direct response to the Syrian government’s chemical attack against innocent men, women, and children. President Trump issued a statement from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, regarding his order saying, “Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched. It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons. There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and ignored the urging of the U.N. Security Council.”

The U.S. State Department issued a statement on their Facebook page saying, “The strike was conducted using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross

in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. A total of 59 TLAMs targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars. As always, the U.S. took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict. Every precaution was taken to execute this strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield.”

Along with the details of how the strike was conducted, U.S. officials say Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike to avoid any collateral damage. The State Department believes the strike severely damaged or even completely destroyed the airfield damaging much of the standing infrastructure.

President Trump called on “…all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types.”

President Trump was a very tough critic of former President Barack Obama for his weak leadership when it came to foreign policy. This air strike was meant to send a clear message not only to Syria but the rest of the world that the United States will not ignore such heinous crimes against innocent people.

While the attack was being ordered and executed, China President Xi Jinping is in the United States meeting with Trump in Florida. This attack could raise tensions between the two leaders considering China’s vetoes during U.N. Security Council meetings to take action on the Syrian government’s alleged war crimes. While Russian state-run television stations have blasted overnight the attack as “aggression,” Fox News reports, The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia have praised the United States’ action against Bashar Al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons.

You can find the Tomahawk missile launch from the US Navy’s official Facebook page or by clicking the link below: https://www.facebook.com/USNavy/videos/10154363082297823/

Remarks with National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster can be found here: https://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2017/04/269543.htm