Trump vows 'quick, forceful' action after suspected Syria chemical attack

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday promised quick, forceful action in response to a deadly suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria, appearing to suggest a potential military response.

Trump told a meeting with military leaders and national security advisers 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.

“But we can’t let atrocities like we all witnessed ... we can’t let that happen in our world ... especially when we’re able to because of the power of the United States, the power of our country, we’re able to stop it.”

The suspected chemical weapons attack late on Saturday killed at least 60 people, with more than 1,000 injured at several sites in Douma, a city near the capital, Damascus, according to a Syrian aid organisation.

Initial US assessments have been unable to determine conclusively what materials were used in the attack and could not say with certainty that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government forces were behind it.

Trump said, however, that Washington was “getting more clarity” on who was responsible for the attack.

US officials said that Washington was weighing a multinational military response. For the second time in less than 24 hours, Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone to coordinate their response, the White House said.

Macron and Trump had again reiterated their desire for a “strong reaction” from the international community, Macron’s office said.

Asked at a cabinet meeting earlier on Monday if Russian President Vladimir Putin bore any responsibility for the attack, Trump said: “He may, yeah, he may. And if he does, it’s going to be very tough, very tough.”

On Sunday, Trump, who had sought warmer relations with Russia, criticised Putin by name on Twitter as he castigated Russia and Iran for backing “Animal Assad.”

The US envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said Washington “will respond” to the attack regardless of whether the UN Security Council acts.

Moscow said it warned the United States of “grave repercussions” if it carried out an attack against Syrian government forces. The Syrian government and its ally Russia have denied involvement in the attack.

‘Shocked the conscience' 

Britain and the United States agreed on Monday that the attack bore the hallmarks of previous chemical weapons attacks by Assad’s government, but neither country gave details of what kind of chemical might have been used or how the attack was staged.

“The images, especially of suffering children, have shocked the conscience of the entire civilized world,” White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said. “Sadly, these actions are consistent with Assad’s established pattern of chemical weapons use.”