Defense Secretary Jim Mattis took pains on Thursday to walk back President Trump’s threats of an imminent strike on Syria, reflecting mounting concerns at the Pentagon that a concerted bombing campaign could escalate into a wider conflict between Russia, Iran and the West.
A Thursday afternoon meeting is scheduled of the president’s top national security advisers, during which Mr. Mattis is expected to urge caution and consideration of a wider strategy. Defense Department officials said that will include trying to get more commitments from allies of help immediately after any strikes.
But officials also noted it may be difficult to extricate the Trump administration from military action, given the president’s Twitter post a day earlier that American missiles “will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart.’”
Speaking Thursday morning before the House Armed Services Committee, Mr. Mattis said that retaliation for the suspected chemical weapons attack had to be balanced against the threat of a wider war.
“We are trying to stop the murder of innocent people. But on a strategic level, it’s how do we keep this from escalating out of control — if you get my drift on that,” Mr. Mattis said.
He added that lawmakers would be notified before any strikes against Syrian weapons facilities and airfields to punish President Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons over the weekend. The Pentagon alerted lawmakers before an April 2017 cruise missile attack on Shayrat air base following a similar chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians.
Mr. Trump, for his part, said he would make a decision “fairly soon” about a strike.
“It’s too bad that the world puts us in a position like that,” he said. “But you know, as I said this morning, we’ve done a great job with ISIS,” Mr. Trump added. “We have just absolutely decimated ISIS. But now we have to make some further decisions. So they’ll be made fairly soon.”
The war train appeared to be moving at a fast clip.
President Emmanuel Macron of France cited unspecified proof that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in a deadly attack on a suburb of Damascus, the capital. He said that France was working in close coordination with the Trump administration on the issue.
“We have proof that last week, 10 days ago even, chemical weapons were used — at least chlorine — and that they were used by the regime of Bashar al-Assad,” Mr. Macron said in an interview on TF1, a French television station.
In London, the British Cabinet had “agreed that the Assad regime has a track record of the use of chemical weapons and it is highly likely that the regime is responsible for Saturday’s attack,” Downing Street said in a statement.
The Cabinet agreed “on the need to take action to alleviate humanitarian distress and to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime,” and that Mrs. May “should continue to work with allies in the United States and France to coordinate an international response,” the statement said.
British submarines were ordered within missile range of Syria, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The Trump administration has not yet confirmed the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and wants to coordinate its response with allies.
But Germany announced that it would not be part of any coordinated military action in Syria, even as Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance of Western powers sending a clear, united message that using chemical weapons “is unacceptable.”
“Germany will not take part in possible military action — I want to make clear again that there are no decisions,” Ms. Merkel said after meeting with Lars Lokke Rasmussen of Denmark in Berlin.
Germany refused to take part in the American-led war in Iraq, and in 2011 abstained from a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing the use of military force to protect civilians in Libya.
The afternoon meeting at the White House will be crucial. It will include not only Mr. Mattis, but also John R. Bolton, the new national security adviser who favored strikes against Mr. Assad when ordered last year by Mr. Trump — but opposed them in 2013 when considered by President Barack Obama.
“In my view the train has left the station,” said Cliff Kupchan, chairman of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting and advisory firm. “If Trump now decides not to strike, he’s Obama 2.0 from 2013. That’s the ultimate anathema to President Trump, and I expect him to hit Syria in the next few days.”
Earlier this month, Mr. Trump surprised even his own advisers when he said he wanted to immediately withdraw the estimated 2,000 American troops that are currently in Syria, where they are focused on fighting the Islamic State. He softened that demand hours later after a National Security Council meeting, setting a goal of bringing the troops home within a few months.
The suspected chemical weapons attack on Saturday, however, enraged the president, and he promised a decision on a response this week.
In Paris, Mr. Macron also said France would continue to push for a cease-fire at the United Nations and for humanitarian aid for civilian populations on the ground to avoid what he described as “the terrible images of crimes that we saw, with children and women who were dying by suffocation, because they were subjected to chlorine.”
“We will have decisions to make in good time, when we decide that it is most useful and most efficient,” Mr. Macron said, referring to potential military strikes, and adding that any strikes would target the regime’s chemical infrastructure.
The French have warplanes equipped with cruise missiles in Jordan and in the United Arab Emirates, which are within striking range of Syria
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/...column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
A Thursday afternoon meeting is scheduled of the president’s top national security advisers, during which Mr. Mattis is expected to urge caution and consideration of a wider strategy. Defense Department officials said that will include trying to get more commitments from allies of help immediately after any strikes.
But officials also noted it may be difficult to extricate the Trump administration from military action, given the president’s Twitter post a day earlier that American missiles “will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart.’”
Speaking Thursday morning before the House Armed Services Committee, Mr. Mattis said that retaliation for the suspected chemical weapons attack had to be balanced against the threat of a wider war.
“We are trying to stop the murder of innocent people. But on a strategic level, it’s how do we keep this from escalating out of control — if you get my drift on that,” Mr. Mattis said.
He added that lawmakers would be notified before any strikes against Syrian weapons facilities and airfields to punish President Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons over the weekend. The Pentagon alerted lawmakers before an April 2017 cruise missile attack on Shayrat air base following a similar chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians.
Mr. Trump, for his part, said he would make a decision “fairly soon” about a strike.
he told reporters at the White House.
“It’s too bad that the world puts us in a position like that,” he said. “But you know, as I said this morning, we’ve done a great job with ISIS,” Mr. Trump added. “We have just absolutely decimated ISIS. But now we have to make some further decisions. So they’ll be made fairly soon.”
The war train appeared to be moving at a fast clip.
President Emmanuel Macron of France cited unspecified proof that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in a deadly attack on a suburb of Damascus, the capital. He said that France was working in close coordination with the Trump administration on the issue.
“We have proof that last week, 10 days ago even, chemical weapons were used — at least chlorine — and that they were used by the regime of Bashar al-Assad,” Mr. Macron said in an interview on TF1, a French television station.
In London, the British Cabinet had “agreed that the Assad regime has a track record of the use of chemical weapons and it is highly likely that the regime is responsible for Saturday’s attack,” Downing Street said in a statement.
The Cabinet agreed “on the need to take action to alleviate humanitarian distress and to deter the further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime,” and that Mrs. May “should continue to work with allies in the United States and France to coordinate an international response,” the statement said.
British submarines were ordered within missile range of Syria, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The Trump administration has not yet confirmed the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and wants to coordinate its response with allies.
But Germany announced that it would not be part of any coordinated military action in Syria, even as Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed the importance of Western powers sending a clear, united message that using chemical weapons “is unacceptable.”
“Germany will not take part in possible military action — I want to make clear again that there are no decisions,” Ms. Merkel said after meeting with Lars Lokke Rasmussen of Denmark in Berlin.
Germany refused to take part in the American-led war in Iraq, and in 2011 abstained from a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing the use of military force to protect civilians in Libya.
The afternoon meeting at the White House will be crucial. It will include not only Mr. Mattis, but also John R. Bolton, the new national security adviser who favored strikes against Mr. Assad when ordered last year by Mr. Trump — but opposed them in 2013 when considered by President Barack Obama.
“In my view the train has left the station,” said Cliff Kupchan, chairman of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting and advisory firm. “If Trump now decides not to strike, he’s Obama 2.0 from 2013. That’s the ultimate anathema to President Trump, and I expect him to hit Syria in the next few days.”
Earlier this month, Mr. Trump surprised even his own advisers when he said he wanted to immediately withdraw the estimated 2,000 American troops that are currently in Syria, where they are focused on fighting the Islamic State. He softened that demand hours later after a National Security Council meeting, setting a goal of bringing the troops home within a few months.
The suspected chemical weapons attack on Saturday, however, enraged the president, and he promised a decision on a response this week.
In Paris, Mr. Macron also said France would continue to push for a cease-fire at the United Nations and for humanitarian aid for civilian populations on the ground to avoid what he described as “the terrible images of crimes that we saw, with children and women who were dying by suffocation, because they were subjected to chlorine.”
“We will have decisions to make in good time, when we decide that it is most useful and most efficient,” Mr. Macron said, referring to potential military strikes, and adding that any strikes would target the regime’s chemical infrastructure.
The French have warplanes equipped with cruise missiles in Jordan and in the United Arab Emirates, which are within striking range of Syria
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/...column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
