The Bashar al Assad regime’s ever-tightening circle on Syrian resistance fighters could send a million or more refugees into Turkey and scatter thousands of Islamic extremists around the region, France’s ambassador to Washington warned Monday. Read More
The Iranian Quds Force organizes, equips and finances the 50,000 Shia militia in Syria that provides the ground troops for the Russian and Iranian effort to prop up the Bashar al Assad regime, a retired senior Israeli Defense Force general said on Wednesday. Read More
A Tomahawk land attack missile launched from USS John Warner (SSN-785) as part of the April 13, 2018 strike against Syrian chemical weapon strikes. US Navy Image
THE PENTAGON — Saturday’s pre-dawn joint air strike against three Syrian chemical weapons facilities was notable not just for its success, but for also being the first time a Virginia-class submarine fired missiles in combat and the first time Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) were used tactically, USNI News has learned. Read More
USS Monterey (CG 61) fires a Tomahawk land attack missile April 13, 2018 against land targets in Syria. US Navy Photo
U.S and French guided-missile warships and a U.S. nuclear attack submarine launched land attack missiles on targets in Syria suspected to be targets related to chemical weapons, Pentagon officials said on Saturday. Read More
The following is the April 17, 2017 Congressional Research Service Legal Sidebar: U.S. Strike on Syrian Airbase: Legal under International Law? Read More
H. E. Paolo Gentiloni in New York in 2015. Photo by Luca Marfe’
Italy’s Prime Minster backed President Donald Trump’s retaliatory Tomahawk cruise missiles strike in response to the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons and said on Thursday action could provide “new momentum to foster a political solution.” Read More
Sailors man the rails aboard the guided- missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG-78) as the ship returns to Naval Station Rota, Spain, April 11, 2017. US Navy Photo
One of the U.S. destroyers tasked with launching a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile on a Syrian airfield last week has returned to its homeport in Spain, the service announced on Tuesday. Read More
Two Steregushchiy-class corvettes moored at the Russian naval base in Kaliningrad
A Russian Navy surface action group is headed to the Eastern Mediterranean departing shortly after a U.S. Tomahawk missile strike on a Syrian airfield, a U.S. defense official told USNI News on Monday. Read More
USS Porter (DDG-78) conducts strike operations while in the Mediterranean Sea, April 7, 2017. US Navy Photo
This post has been updated with additional information on the intellgence findings that informed U.S. leaders’ decision to carry out the attack on Thursday.
THE PENTAGON — Senior U.S. defense officials today briefed reporters on the planning and execution of a Tomahawk strike on al-Shayrat Airfield in Western Syria Thursday night, which involved two guided-missile destroyers launching 59 missiles at targets. Read More
A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet flies off the wing of a KC-135 Stratotanker over Iraq after refuel Sept. 28, 2016. US Air Force Photo
THE PENTAGON — Russia said it suspended an airspace deconfliction agreement with U.S. forces operating in and around Syria, in a statement deriding the U.S. for its Thursday night attack on a Syrian airfield with 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles launched from two destroyers operating in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, but senior U.S. military officials said the deconfliction hotline is still open and Russians are answering their calls. Read More
