Trump advisers: US seeks to fight IS and oust Syria’s Assad

In this Feb. 10, 2017 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad speaks during an interview with Yahoo News in Damascus, Syria. Syria decried a U.S. missile strike early Friday, April 7, 2017 on a government-controlled air base where U.S. officials say the Syrian military launched a deadly chemical attack earlier this week.

Sir Christopher Meyer on Donald Trump’s military action

Say what you like about Donald Trump's rocky start as leader of the free world, but he should be congratulated for taking swift military action in response to President Assad's use of chemical weapons. By sending Tomahawk missiles to obliterate the al-Shayrat air base - from which Syrian air force jets launched their sickening Sarin gas attack last week - Trump succeeded at a stroke in doing what Barack Obama had so abjectly failed to do: enforce his own ill-advised 'red line' warning of 2012 over the use of chemical weapons.

Rep. Moulton: Time for Trump to develop a Syria strategy

Obama warned Assad the use of chemical or biological weapons would cross a "red line" for the U.S.in 2012. The US missile strike on a Syrian airbase came days after the chemical attack that killed scores in Idlib but years after the evidence began piling up of brutality, torture, the deliberate targeting of civilians, medical facilities and aid and the repeated use of chlorine by forces fighting to defend Bashar al-Assad's regime.

In Syria, Trump and Obama faced same issue – and found different solutions

More than four years ago, President Barack Obama vowed action if Syria crossed a "red line" and used chemical weapons on its own people. But when hundreds of Syrians died in a chemical weapons attack in the Ghouta region outside Damascus in 2013, Obama failed to act.

Syrian warplanes take off from air base hit by US missiles

Assad's base in ruins: Dramatic satellite photos reveal how airfield that Trump pounded with 59 Tomahawks is 'almost completely destroyed' after punishment for deadly chemical weapon attack Kremlin tells US it is 'one step from war' as Trump warns he will hit Syria AGAIN after unleashing a surprise attack on Russia's ally Assad Did Russia bomb hospital to cover up Syrian gas horror? New U.S. probe on Kremlin involvement as U.N. ambassador warns America could strike 'more' Syria claims it KNEW America was about to launch airstrikes hours before the attack on its airbase and moved its planes out of the way Take your best shot, Donald: Syrian warplanes take off from airbase targeted by US cruise missiles just hours later as Assad mounts new attacks on town he gassed Putin makes his move after condemning Trump's 'illegal' air strike on Assad: Russian battleship is positioned between US ... (more)

Inside the breakneck a 72-hour evolutiona that led Trump to order Syria strike

President Donald Trump ordered the first U.S. military strikes against Syria last night since the war began in 2011, firing 59 Tomahawk missiles on an airbase in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack in Idlib that killed some 86 people, over 30 of the In this image from video provided by the U.S. Navy, the guided-missile destroyer USS Porter launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea, Friday, April 7, 2017. This satellite image released by the U.S. Department of Defense shows a damage assessment image of Shayrat air base in Syria, following U.S. Tomahawk Land Attack Missile strikes on Friday, April 7, 2017 from the USS Ross and USS Porter , Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers.

Media Praise Trump For Ordering Missile Attack On Syrian Airbase

Media figures and pundits celebrated President Donald Trump's "swift, decisive" order to destroy a Syrian airbase in retaliation for what is believed to be a chemical warfare attack against Syrian rebels that killed dozens of people, including children. Pundits praised Trump's "readiness to act on instinct" and declared that Trump "made Americans proud."

The Latest: Opposition leader backs US tack on IS, Iran

Syrian media say... Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan is embracing the town halls that many of his Republican counterparts in Congress have avoided as people lash out at President Donald Trump's early actions. Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan is embracing the town halls that many of his Republican counterparts in Congress have avoided as people lash out at President Donald Trump's early actions.

Appeals court weighs Trump ban as travelers arrive to tears

Just hours after an appeals court blocked an attempt to... . Members of International Migrants Alliance in Hong Kong hold placards during a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's selective country travel ban outside of the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017.

Gabbard to personally cover cost of Syria trip

Gabbard's press release came less than a week after she detailed her trip in another press released and received public and political criticism for the purpose and merits of the trip. "Though the trip has met every requirement of the House Ethics Committee, the congresswoman has decided to reimburse AACCESS-Ohio for the trip because it has become a distraction from the important issue at hand - do the American people want their taxpayer dollars to continue to be used in support of militant groups working hand-in-hand with al-Qaeda and ISIS in the effort to overthrow the Syrian government?" the release issued by Erika Tsuji from Gabbard's said.

Report: Military did not distort intelligence reports on Islamic State

A Defense Department review delivered to Congress on Tuesday concludes that senior leaders at the U.S. Central Command did not exaggerate the progress the U.S. was making in fighting Islamic State militants, two U.S. officials said. The long-awaited report from the Pentagon's inspector general is not expected to satisfy intelligence analysts who complained that officials were improperly reworking intelligence assessments being prepared for President Barack Obama and other top policymakers to offer a rosier view of U.S. operations against IS.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard embarks on “fact-finding” mission to Damascus, Syria

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a sophomore Hawaii Democrat and Iraq War veteran, recently embarked on what her office called a "fact-finding" mission to Damascus, in Syria. Congressional travel to the devastated country is exceedingly rare, especially as fighting continues in direct violation of a recent cease-fire agreement brokered by Turkey and Russia.

Syria fighting threatens deal to fix damaged Damascus water source

Jan 15 The Syrian army and allied militia clashed with rebels in Wadi Barada near Damascus on Sunday, threatening to disrupt planned repair works to a pumping station that supplies most of the capital's water, a war monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army and the allied Lebanese militia Hezbollah had made some gains against rebels in the Wadi Barada area.