Trump administration officials have consulted with global allies on a possible joint military response to Syria’s alleged poison gas attack, as President Donald Trump cancelled a foreign trip in order to manage a crisis that is testing his vow to stand up to Syrian president Bashar Assad.

Mr Trump spoke with other world leaders, and other US officials said the US, France and Britain were in extensive consultations about launching a military strike as early as the end of this week.

None of the three countries’ leaders had made a firm decision, according to the officials.

A joint military operation, possibly with France rather than the US in the lead, could send a message of international unity about enforcing the prohibitions on chemical weapons and counter Syria’s political and military support from Russia and Iran.

President Emmanuel Macron said France, the US and Britain will decide how to respond in the coming days.

He called for a “strong and joint response” to the attack in the Syrian town of Douma on Saturday, which Syrian activists and rescuers say killed 40 people. The Syrian government denies responsibility.

The French president does not need parliamentary permission to launch a military operation. France is already involved in the US-led coalition created in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Multiple IS attacks have targeted French soil, including one last month.

Mr Trump suggested on Monday he had little doubt that Syrian government forces were to blame for what he said was a chemical attack, but neither he nor other administration officials have produced hard evidence.

Officials suggested such evidence was lacking, or at least not yet at hand. This is in contrast to an incident one year ago in which US intelligence agencies had video and other evidence of certain aspects of the actual attack, which involved the use of Sarin gas. Mr Trump responded by launching Navy cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield.

One official said the US, France and Britain were considering military options that would be more extensive than the punitive, one-day strike last April.

That strike did not appear to have had the desired effect of deterring Assad from further use of chemical agents. So the three countries are discussing a range of options, including preventing Assad from conducting future attacks by striking military capabilities involved in carrying out such attack, the official said.

Asked whether France would take military action, Mr Macron said his country will continue discussing technical and strategic information with US and British allies and “in the coming days we will announce our decision”.

He said any action would “target chemical weapons” stocks. Under a 2013 agreement for which Russia was a guarantor, Syria was to have eliminated all its chemical weapons, but it has used chlorine and perhaps other chemicals since then.

Mr Trump spoke by phone with Prime Minister Theresa May. A British government statement said the two agreed the attack in Syria was “utterly reprehensible” and that the international community must respond “to uphold the worldwide prohibition on the use of chemical weapons”.

Mr Trump met at the White House with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who told reporters that he and Mr Trump “see eye to eye” on the Syria problem.

“We cannot tolerate with a war criminal,” the emir said, adding, “This matter should end immediately.” Qatar hosts the United States’ main air operations centre for the Middle East, which would coordinate any American air attack in Syria.

A watchdog agency, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, announced that it will send “shortly” a fact-finding mission to Douma, after receiving a request from the Syrian government and its Russian backers to investigate the allegations. It was not immediately clear whether that visit would delay or avert U.S. or allied military action.

The Russian military, which has troops in Syria, said on Monday that its officers had visited the site of the alleged attack and found no evidence to back up reports of poison gas being used.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Mr Trump will not attend the 8th Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, or travel to Bogota, Colombia, as planned. She said he will stay home to “oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world”.</s>Trump administration officials have consulted with global allies on a possible joint military response to Syria’s alleged poison gas attack, as President Donald Trump cancelled a foreign trip in order to manage a crisis that is testing his vow to stand up to Syrian president Bashar Assad.

Trump administration officials have consulted with global allies on a possible joint military response to Syria’s alleged poison gas attack, as President Donald Trump cancelled a foreign trip in order to manage a crisis that is testing his vow to stand up to Syrian president Bashar Assad.

None of the three countries’ leaders had made a firm decision, according to the officials. A joint military operation, possibly with France rather than the US in the lead, could send a message of international unity about enforcing the prohibitions on chemical weapons and counter Syria’s political and military support from Russia and Iran.

President Emmanuel Macron said France, the US and Britain will decide how to respond in the coming days. He called for a “strong and joint response” to the attack in the Syrian town of Douma on Saturday, which Syrian activists and rescuers say killed 40 people. The Syrian government denies responsibility.

The French president does not need parliamentary permission to launch a military operation. France is already involved in the US-led coalition created in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Multiple IS attacks have targeted French soil, including one last month.

.@POTUS Trump condemns the heinous attack on innocent Syrians with banned chemical weapons. #Syria pic.twitter.com/qiEahlL3Ah — Department of State (@StateDept) April 9, 2018 Mr Trump suggested on Monday he had little doubt that Syrian government forces were to blame for what he said was a chemical attack, but neither he nor other administration officials have produced hard evidence. Officials suggested such evidence was lacking, or at least not yet at hand. This is in contrast to an incident one year ago in which US intelligence agencies had video and other evidence of certain aspects of the actual attack, which involved the use of Sarin gas. Mr Trump responded by launching Navy cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield.

That strike did not appear to have had the desired effect of deterring Assad from further use of chemical agents. So the three countries are discussing a range of options, including preventing Assad from conducting future attacks by striking military capabilities involved in carrying out such attack, the official said.

Asked whether France would take military action, Mr Macron said his country will continue discussing technical and strategic information with US and British allies and “in the coming days we will announce our decision”. He said any action would “target chemical weapons” stocks. Under a 2013 agreement for which Russia was a guarantor, Syria was to have eliminated all its chemical weapons, but it has used chlorine and perhaps other chemicals since then.

"Russia’s credibility as a member of the Council is now in question. 



We will not stand idly by & watch Russia continue to undermine the global norms which have ensured all our security including Russia’s for decades."



🇬🇧 Amb. @KarenPierceUN speaks to #UNSC after vote #Syria pic.twitter.com/VNvcW4Zz7s — UK at the UN 🇬🇧 (@UKUN_NewYork) April 10, 2018 Mr Trump spoke by phone with Prime Minister Theresa May. A British government statement said the two agreed the attack in Syria was “utterly reprehensible” and that the international community must respond “to uphold the worldwide prohibition on the use of chemical weapons”. Mr Trump met at the White House with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who told reporters that he and Mr Trump “see eye to eye” on the Syria problem.

“We cannot tolerate with a war criminal,” the emir said, adding, “This matter should end immediately.” Qatar hosts the United States’ main air operations centre for the Middle East, which would coordinate any American air attack in Syria. A watchdog agency, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, announced that it will send “shortly” a fact-finding mission to Douma, after receiving a request from the Syrian government and its Russian backers to investigate the allegations. It was not immediately clear whether that visit would delay or avert U.S. or allied military action. The Russian military, which has troops in Syria, said on Monday that its officers had visited the site of the alleged attack and found no evidence to back up reports of poison gas being used.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Mr Trump will not attend the 8th Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, or travel to Bogota, Colombia, as planned. She said he will stay home to “oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world”.</s>The United States is weighing a multinational military response to the suspected Syrian poison gas attack as experts listed several key facilities that could be viable targets.

US President Donald Trump promised forceful action on Monday, saying a decision would be made soon following the suspected chemical weapons attack late on Saturday in the Syrian city of Douma that killed at least 60 people and injured more than 1000 others.

US officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity did not disclose any plans, but acknowledged military options were being developed.

The White House, Pentagon and State Department declined to comment on specific options or whether military action was likely.

Experts on Syria's war cited France and perhaps even Britain and Middle East allies as potential partners in any US military operation, which would aim to discourage future chemical weapons use in Syria's brutal civil war.

President Emmanuel Macron warned in February that France would strike Syria if it broke treaties prohibiting chemical weapons. France has more than a dozen warplanes in the Middle East and could look to strike from the sea.

British UN Ambassador Karen Pierce told reporters that Britain "would prefer to start with a proper investigation" but that all options were on the table and London was in close contact with its US and French allies.

Experts speculated that the retaliatory strikes, should they happen, would likely focus on facilities linked to past reports of Syrian chemical weapons attacks.

They cited potential strikes against bases including Dumayr air base, which is home to Syrian Mi-8 helicopters and has been linked in social media to the strike in Douma.

One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, was unaware of any decision to go ahead with a strike, but said any plans for a possible attack could focus on targets associated with Syria's chemical weapons program while seeking to avoid anything that could spread poisonous fallout in civilian areas.

A more provocative strike could target Humaymim Airfield in northwest Syria, which was singled out by the White House in a March 4 statement that identified it as the starting point for bombing missions by Russian military aircraft in Damascus and Eastern Ghouta.

Speaking at a meeting with military leaders and national security advisers, Trump said he would make a decision by Monday night "or very shortly thereafter" on a response, adding that the United States had "a lot of options militarily" on Syria.

Two days after the attack, the White House was still only able to say that the attack fit the pattern of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapon use.

Initial US assessments have so far been unable to determine conclusively what materials were used in the attack and could not say with 100 per cent certainty that Assad's government forces were behind it.

The US envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said Washington "will respond" to the attack regardless of whether the UN Security Council acts or not.

The Syrian government and its ally Russia have denied involvement in the attack.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is weighing a multinational military response to the suspected Syrian poison gas attack, U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday, as experts listed several key facilities that could be viable targets.

U.S. President Donald Trump receives a briefing from senior military leadership accompanied by Vice President Mike Pence and new National Security Adviser John Bolton at the Cabinet room of the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. April 9, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump promised forceful action on Monday, saying a decision would be made soon following the suspected chemical weapons attack late on Saturday in the Syrian city of Douma that killed at least 60 people and injured more than 1,000 others.

U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity did not disclose any plans, but acknowledged military options were being developed. The White House, Pentagon and State Department declined to comment on specific options or whether military action was likely.

Experts on Syria’s war cited France and perhaps even Britain and Middle East allies as potential partners in any U.S. military operation, which would aim to discourage future chemical weapons use in Syria’s brutal civil war.President Emmanuel Macron warned in February that France would strike Syria if it broke treaties prohibiting chemical weapons. France has more than a dozen warplanes in the Middle East and could look to strike from the sea.

British U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce told reporters that Britain “would prefer to start with a proper investigation” but that all options were on the table and London was in close contact with its U.S. and French allies.

U.S. intelligence officials said they believed a chemical attack did take place but that Washington was still gathering information. Trump said he was getting clarity about who precisely was responsible for the attack, but did not elaborate.

Experts speculated that the retaliatory strikes, should they happen, would likely focus on facilities linked to past reports of Syrian chemical weapons attacks.

They cited potential strikes against bases including Dumayr air base, which is home to Syrian Mi-8 helicopters and has been linked in social media to the strike in Douma.

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, was unaware of any decision to go ahead with a strike, but said any plans for a possible attack could focus on targets associated with Syria’s chemical weapons program while seeking to avoid anything that could spread poisonous fallout in civilian areas.

A more provocative strike could target Humaymim Airfield in northwest Syria, which was singled out by the White House in a March 4 statement that identified it as the starting point for bombing missions by Russian military aircraft in Damascus and Eastern Ghouta.

“It depends on how serious they are,” said Hassan Hassan, a senior fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

RUSSIAN THREATS

The United States fired missiles at the Shayrat air base a year ago in response to the killing of dozens of civilians in a sarin gas attack in an opposition-held town.

The United States warned Russia prior to the strikes themselves, seeking to avoid killing Russian forces. The base quickly resumed flights and the strikes did little long-term damage to Syria’s broader military campaign, thanks largely to robust Iranian and Russian support.

In recent weeks, however, Trump, along with his top advisers, have stressed Russia’s complicity in Assad’s actions. Trump on Sunday specifically criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for backing Assad, whom he called an “animal.”

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said on Monday that Moscow had warned the United States of grave repercussions if it carried out an attack against Syrian government forces.

Jennifer Cafarella, at the Institute for the Study of War think tank in Washington, cautioned that Washington needed to be ready for retaliation, particularly if the U.S. strikes imposed military costs to Iran or Russia.

“The U.S. needs to contemplate whether Assad, and/or the Russians and the Iranians will escalate against deployed U.S. forces in Syria in retaliation,” Cafarella said.

She said Syria might have tipped its hand as to how it would respond to a limited U.S. strike earlier on Monday, when Syrian air defense systems shot down five out of eight missiles fired from suspected Israeli warplanes.

They did not shoot down the attacking aircraft.

At the time, there was social media reporting that the strike was being carried out by the U.S. military, which the Pentagon denied.

“I think that tells you something about what the rules of engagement were at the time,” Cafarella said.</s>Rome, April 11 - Foreign Undersecretary Vincenzo Amendola said Wednesday "to those who, like Matteo Salvini, ask for a stance against military intervention by the West in Syria, we recall that Italy has always condemned in the firmest manner any use of chemical weapons: their use constitutes a war crime and an extremely serious violation of international law. Having said that, the Italian government is at the side of the traditional allies of our country: the United States, France and the United Kingdom. If Salvini thinks differently, let him say so clearly". Salvini, leader of the anti-migrant and Euroskeptic League, earlier called on Prekier Paolo Gentiloni to take a "clear position for Italy against all further and disastrous military intervention in Syria. "I would not like that economic motives, power demands or the alleged use, never proven, of chemical weapons never found in the past should unleash a conflict that may become extremely dangerous". He said Italy must "oppose missile raids and bombing".</s>Trump administration officials have consulted with global allies on a possible joint military response to Syria's alleged poison gas attack, as President Donald Trump canceled a foreign trip in order to manage a crisis that is testing his vow to stand up to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Trump spoke with other world leaders, and other U.S. officials said the U.S., France and Britain were in extensive consultations about launching a military strike as early as the end of this week. None of the three countries' leaders had made a firm decision, according to the officials, who were not authorized to discuss military planning by name.

A joint military operation, possibly with France rather than the U.S. in the lead, could send a message of international unity about enforcing the prohibitions on chemical weapons and counter Syria's political and military support from Russia and Iran.

President Emmanuel Macron said France, the U.S. and Britain will decide how to respond in the coming days. He called for a "strong and joint response" to the attack in the Syrian town of Douma on Saturday, which Syrian activists and rescuers say killed 40 people. The Syrian government denies responsibility.

The French president does not need parliamentary permission to launch a military operation. France is already involved in the U.S.-led coalition created in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Multiple IS attacks have targeted French soil, including one last month.

Trump suggested Monday he had little doubt that Syrian government forces were to blame for what he said was a chemical attack, but neither he nor other administration officials have produced hard evidence. Officials suggested such evidence was lacking, or at least not yet at hand. This is in contrast to an incident one year ago in which U.S. intelligence agencies had video and other evidence of certain aspects of the actual attack, which involved the use of Sarin gas. Trump responded by launching Navy cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield.

One official said the U.S., France and Britain were considering military options that would be more extensive than the punitive, one-day strike last April. That strike did not appear to have had the desired effect of deterring Assad from further use of chemical agents. So the three countries are discussing a range of options, including preventing Assad from conducting future attacks by striking military capabilities involved in carrying out such attack, the official said.

Asked whether France would take military action, Macron said his country will continue discussing technical and strategic information with U.S. and British allies and "in the coming days we will announce our decision." He said any action would "target chemical weapons" stocks. Under a 2013 agreement for which Russia was a guarantor, Syria was to have eliminated all its chemical weapons, but it has used chlorine and perhaps other chemicals since then.

Trump spoke by phone with British Prime Minister Theresa May. A British government statement said the two agreed the attack in Syria was "utterly reprehensible" and that the international community must respond "to uphold the worldwide prohibition on the use of chemical weapons." Trump met at the White House with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who told reporters that he and Trump "see eye to eye" on the Syria problem.

"We cannot tolerate with a war criminal," the emir said, adding, "This matter should end immediately." Qatar hosts the United States' main air operations center for the Middle East, which would coordinate any American air attack in Syria.

A watchdog agency, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, announced that it will send "shortly" a fact-finding mission to Douma, after receiving a request from the Syrian government and its Russian backers to investigate the allegations. It was not immediately clear whether that visit would delay or avert U.S. or allied military action.

The Russian military, which has troops in Syria, said on Monday that its officers had visited the site of the alleged attack and found no evidence to back up reports of poison gas being used.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis canceled plans to travel to California this week, indicating his focus on Syria. He was expected at a White House meeting Wednesday for further consultations on Syria.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Trump will not attend the 8th Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, or travel to Bogota, Colombia, as planned. She said he will stay home to "oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world."

The president's new national security adviser, John Bolton, urged Trump to skip the trip, an official said. This reflects a view in the White House that deeper Russian and Iranian involvement in Syria have complicated calculations about a response to any U.S. military attack, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Moscow has cautioned the U.S. not to launch a military attack.

Amid the tough talk from the White House, the U.S. military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order. A Navy destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, got underway in the eastern Mediterranean on Monday after completing a port call in Cyprus. The guided missile destroyer is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, the weapon of choice in a U.S. attack one year ago on an airfield in Syria following an alleged sarin gas attack on civilians.

Also, the Navy said the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its strike group will depart Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday for a regularly scheduled deployment to Europe. The Navy does not currently have a carrier in the Persian Gulf.</s>iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Western leaders are weighing up a coordinated military response against the Syrian government over an alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held neighborhood near Damascus on Saturday.

President Donald Trump, France’s President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May held phone conversations Tuesday discussing how the West should act in order to reinforce an international prohibition against chemical warfare.

Macron on Tuesday evening said he wants “a strong and joint response” to the attack, saying that France would decide in the coming days alongside the U.S. and Britain.

Meanwhile, leading officials from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have requested access to the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack that took place on a Syrian rebel-held neighborhood on Saturday.

The request from the OPCW Technical Secretariat to the Syrian government was announced just as Russia was telling the U.N. Security Council it would put two draft resolutions on Syria to a vote on Tuesday, after rejecting a similar proposal from the U.S. following an angry debate at the council Monday.

Trump has promised a “forceful” response to the alleged attack. The president discussed possible military action that could be taken during a Cabinet meeting with military leaders on Monday.

Options include limited military strikes, such as the Tomahawk missiles launched from a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Mediterranean targeting a Syrian airstrip almost exactly a year ago after an alleged chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib that killed more than 100 people.

“We have a lot of options, militarily,” the president said after the Cabinet meeting. “And we’ll be letting you know pretty soon — probably after the fact.”

Western leaders are mulling possible responses, including Macron and May.

When asked by reporters after the Cabinet meeting whether Russian President Vladimir Putin, who supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, bore responsibility for the attack, Trump said, “Yeah, he may, and if he does, it’s going to be very tough. Everybody is going to pay a price.”

Trump’s third national security adviser, John Bolton, was in the room during the Cabinet meetings on his first day in office.

It’s believed that any U.S. military response is unlikely to include significant numbers of ground forces. Trump signaled last month that he wanted a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces in Syria, taking observers by surprise.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Monday said Moscow will insist on inspectors from the OPCW traveling to the site of the alleged attack in Syria Saturday.

He added that Russia would submit a draft U.N. resolution Tuesday calling for a full investigation with the OPCW, saying the Syrian government and Russian forces were ready and available to facilitate an inspection “already today.”

Western representatives at the United Nations issued strong words Monday condemning the suspected attack in Douma, thought to have killed dozens of people while about 500 were treated with symptoms consistent with exposure to nerve agent.

Russia has the “blood of Syrian children” on its hands, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said.

“History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria,” she said. “Either way, the United States will respond.”

But the Russian ambassador to the U.N., Vassily Nebenzia, said the chemical attack was staged and warned that any U.S. military response in Syria would have “grave repercussions.”

Russian experts had entered Douma Monday and did not find any traces of chemical substances used against civilians, Nebenzia said.

And Syrian envoy Bashar Jaafari said Syria had no chemical weapons stockpiles.

“We condemn their use, at any time and under any circumstances,” he said.

There have been 10 chemical attacks recorded by activists and doctors in Syria this year, including the alleged incident in Douma Saturday, according to the Syrian American Medical Society.
Anonymous U.S. officials say the United States is considering a multinational military response against Syrian government forces, with experts saying that France, the United Kingdom, and Middle Eastern allies would be considered to help.