Syria Strikes Are ’One Time Shot’ To Send Strong Message to Assad, Pentagon Says
Local Editor
US War Secretary Jim Mattis described Saturday's strikes on multiple targets in Syria as "harder" than those in 2017, but claimed that no further launches were planned for the moment.
"Right now this is a onetime shot and I believe it sent a very strong message," Mattis alleged during a press briefing in the Pentagon, threatening that there may be further attacks against the government of [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad "should he decide to ‘use more chemical weapons' in the future."
Specifying that more than twice as many weapons were fired as in April 2017, Mattis claimed that the aerial assault sought to "destroy the Syrian regime's chemical weapons research development and production capabilities."
"We were very precise and proportionate but at the same time it was a heavy strike," Mattis told reports.
Mattis added that the US, which has used manned aircraft to launch its missiles, had "gone to great lengths to avoid civilian and foreign casualties," while Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Joseph Dunford, who also took part in the briefing, claimed the Pentagon "specifically identified targets" to "mitigate the risk of Russian forces being involved."
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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