After Syria attack, U.S. and Russia tensions rise but fears ease of wider military confrontation

The Washington Compost ^ | April 14 at 10:11 AM | Carol Morello, Anne Gearan and Missy Ryan

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Western leaders warned Syria on Saturday that they could launch further missile strikes if chemical weapons are used again, while the pre-dawn attacks were denounced by Damascus and its backers as illegal actions that would carry repercussions.

But one major worry appeared to ease: That the coordinated attacks by the United States, France and Britain late Friday could have set off a direct confrontation with Syria’s most powerful military partner, Russia.

At the Pentagon, the director of the Joint Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, said the more than 100 missile strikes delivered a blow to the “heart” of Syria’s chemical weapons network. He acknowledged, however, that Syria retained “residual” capacity, but gave no details on the scope of what could be left.

There was, however, a wider sense of relief that the strikes on three targets — believed to be research and storage cogs in Syrian’s chemical weapons production — had not caused Russian casualties, which could have led to a direct confrontation between Washington and Moscow.

McKenzie confirmed there was no Russia response and said Syrian air defenses had “no material effect” on the incoming barrage. Earlier, Russian officials said some missiles were intercepted by the Soviet-made antimissile batteries used by Syrian forces.

The rhetoric from Syria’s backers was harsh.

[HangnJudge]

Paywall...

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Use your browser’s incognito mode.

[SaxxonWoods]

Putin isn’t going to do anything about Trump’s strike and everyone knows it. Peace through strength still rules.

[HangnJudge]

OK, that works

[sergeantdave]

The 50 IQ Soros apes at the WP wouldn’t recognize Kabuki theatre if it was baked into a pie and shoved down their throats.

President Trump performed brilliantly.