Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON: The U.S. will decide on its response to a suspected chemical attack in Syria within the next day or two, President Donald Trump said Monday.
Trump later said his decision will “probably” be made today.
“This is about humanity and it can’t be allowed to happen,” Trump said at the White House. “If it’s the Russians, if it’s Syria, if it’s Iran, if it’s all of them together, we’ll figure it out.”
The comments come as Trump prepares to convene with his top military brass Monday night for a working dinner expected to be focused on Washington’s response to a reported chemical attack in which dozens of people were killed Saturday night outside of Damascus.
The White Helmets, a local civil defense agency, blamed the Syrian regime for the attack in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma, which, it said, killed 78 civilians and injured hundreds of other victims.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical We-apons (OPCW) confirmed its fact finding mission is investigating “to establish whether chemical weapons were used”.
The U.S. has long maintained Russia ultimately bears responsibility for any chemical attacks carried out by the regime because Moscow is Bashar al-Assad’s principal international backer.
Asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin bears responsibility for this weekend’s suspected chemical attack, Trump said Putin “may” be held responsible.
“If he does it’s going to be very tough, very tough,” Trump said. “Everybody’s gonna pay a price. He will, everybody will.”
Trump insisted military action is not off the table one day after Russia’s U.S. embassy warned it “may trigger the gravest consequences”.
Also, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday: “I do not rule out anything right now,” Mattis told repor-ters at the Pentagon, while hosting Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.
“The first thing we have to look at is why are chemical weapons still being used at all when Russia was the framework guarantor of removing all chemical weapons, and so working with our allies and partners from NATO to Qatar and elsewhere, we are going to address this issue,” Mattis said, responding to a question on whether the U.S. is capable of striking Assad’s chemical weapons facilities.
Earlier Monday, Senator L-indsey Graham urged Trump to take action against the Syr-ian air force, saying Assad “is a legitimate war criminal in the eyes of the international community”.
“We should make [Assad] pay a heavy price by destroying his air capability,” Graham told Fox News. (AA)
