Posted on 04/08/2017 6:23:38 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Trump defends decision not to hit runway on Syrian airbase
By ERIN DOOLEY Apr 8, 2017, 5:14 PM ET
Following reports that two Syrian jets took off from the airfield hit by U.S. missiles Thursday night, President Trump defended his decision not to strike the runway.
"The reason you don't generally hit runways is that they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!" the commander-in-chief tweeted.
According to one U.S. official, initial assessments indicate that up to 20 Syrian aircraft were destroyed after the U.S. hit Syria's al Shayrat airbase with more than 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles Thursday. However, the runway -- as well as storage areas suspected to contain chemical weapons -- remained untouched.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
That money could pay for a lot of research and engineering.
“The media is going to do all they can to try to make this attack a lose-lose for Trump”
They don’t have to...there’s enough people around here to do the job for them!!
OK, just to be sure: you.think.you.are.privy.to.the.same.evidence.as.the.CINC.
If SO, we’re gonna need to keep you around as a source.
Holy cow!
You been trolling from DU since 1999 and nobody's noticed???
How in the world do you get that from anything I’ve posted? You seem to have a problem understanding English.
When Russians first started their military intervention, their plan for final settlement in Syria did include a condition that Bashar Assad steps down and is replaced by somebody from ruling faction, which he refused and Russia dropped the demand. It seems less likely that Putin would revive that condition now. Since Russia will be compelled to respond forcefully if there is further escalation of military actions by U.S., deep state cannot push it all the way to the end. They have been so wobbly when faced with a few operational nukes of N. Korea, but somehow mustered the courage to take on Russia which has enough nukes to kill tens of millions of Americans with a single order from Putin. At some point, Trump can have an opportunity to step in and put a brake on it with most Americans supporting it.
According to this article, all 59 made there mark. And it sounds like the US has some serious intel on the gas attacks, even down to the pilots:
“On April 4, 2017, the commander of No. 677 Squadron — Col. Yusuf Hasuri — received written orders from the Ba’ath Party headquarters in Damascus to arm two of his Sukhois with bombs filled with chemical agents. Syrian intelligence believed that leaders from Syrian jihadist group Hayat Tahrir Ash Sham were planning on meeting in the town of Khan Sheykhoun.”
On April 4, 2017, the commander of No. 677 Squadron — Col. Yusuf Hasuri — received written orders from the Ba’ath Party headquarters in Damascus to arm two of his Sukhois with bombs filled with chemical agents. Syrian intelligence believed that leaders from Syrian jihadist group Hayat Tahrir Ash Sham were planning on meeting in the town of Khan Sheykhoun.
The Su-22s took off at 6:30 in the morning — unusually early for a Syrian air operation — and took the population of Khan Sheykhoun by surprise. Local early-warning systems activated minutes after four chemical bombs released by Hasuri and his wingman hit a road inside the town.
Between 74 and 86 people — including dozens of children — died within minutes. As at least another 557 people were injured. An Su-24 launched from Tiyas air base at 9:04 that morning dropped four bombs on a field hospital treating the wounded.
The Russian Ministry of Defense further claimed that only 23 out of 59 Tomahawks fired by the U.S. Navy reached their targets. How the Russians “know” this remains unclear, but one thing is certain.
The strike was executed with such precision that none of the Russian Kamov Ka-52 helicopters nor any of the Russian air force personnel deployed at Shayrat was harmed.
Money quote:
If no fewer than 26 BGM-109s failed to reach their targets, their wreckage would litter Syria. And regime and militant forces would likely be showing off ruined Tomahawks in propaganda videos.
As someone pointed out here, next time go in the the hanger doors on fortified hangers.
“I forget what they called those preformed runway slabs”
I’m pretty sure they were actually sheets of grated steel.
I apologize, I may have mis-read your post about the footage you saw.
The Great FR Hippie Bloom ‘17 yesterday after the works has rendered it difficult to re-populate the foxholes.
We’re going to need that runway to fly our planes in to drop off supplies for allies, refugees who need to go back and the staffs of CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and whoever else among the media or muslim community who just can not be loyal to the United States.
I found it:
Marston Mat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marston_Mat
Marston Mat was extensively used during World War II by Seabees (construction battalions) and other front line construction personnel to build runways and other readily usable surfaces over all kinds of terrain.
On Pacific islands the matting was typically covered with crushed and rolled coral or soil to form a level surface. The perforated and channeled design of the matting created strength and rigidity and facilitated drainage. A runway two hundred feet wide and 5000 feet (1500 m) long could be created within two days by a small team of engineers.
My father in-law was a Seabee in WWII Pacific..he worked on many runways.
I don’t doubt most of them did hit their targets. There’s always going to be a few misses.
I don’t doubt most of them did hit their targets. There’s always going to be a few misses.
just cycling some old inventory.. nothing to see here.. has the russian battleship arrived there yet?
agreed
I am not a McCain Saudi-Turkey connected globalist seeking before hand (for more than a decade) regime change in Syria.
I have enough to not buy as 100% all there is that the civil war was inevitable due only to the “opposition” (MB backed from I’ve read) “Arab Spring” protests and Assad’s response. Minus the foreign backers, cheerleaders, sponsors and supporters the “Syrian opposition” would have stood down pretty quickly and the status quo restored. That status quo was a security situation we and Israel were able to contain and maintain and including the level of Russian and Iranian support Assad had at the time. But the regime change agenda behind the “syrian opposition” agenda, and the destabilization across Syria resulting in greatly magnifying how broadly and deeply both Iran and Russia became involved helping Assad, and magnifying and making more complex and difficult a security situation that was under control.
With all of that said, I think Trump did as much and as little as was called for, and politically he could not have just done nothing. It was a pragmatic response in a very complex situation. Now it is up to Russia and Assad to decide to make things worse, or not.
Nothing like the damage you have done to your own credibility and support, for sure.
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