Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Kathryn E. Holm/Navy

Mattis Confirms Chemical Weapons Attack in Syria, But No Trump Decision to Strike Yet

The National Security Council discussed options with the president for responding to the attack, but the administration was still syncing up with allies Thursday evening.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told lawmakers he believes a chemical weapons attack occurred in Syria last weekend, but the Trump administration was still assessing conclusive evidence and deciding how to respond, including, whether to attack Syria with U.S. military strikes,as of Thursday.

The world has been on high-alert for a punitive U.S. missile strike on Syria, and Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday that Russia  should “get ready,” missiles “will be coming.” The president appeared to soften that threat on Thursday morning, when he said in a new tweet that an attack “could be very soon or not so soon at all,” and “we’ll see what happens.”

Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday that the administration had practical concerns about collateral damage and getting entangled in a larger conflict. But he repeatedly emphasized that the use of chemical weapons in last weekend’s attack that killed at least 42 people could not go unanswered. Some international observers have speculated the attack could have been caused by industrial chlorine, rather than a weaponized nerve agent. By Thursday afternoon, NBC News reported the U.S. had confirmed the presence of a nerve agent and chlorine gas in blood and urine samples of the attack victims.

“I believe there was a chemical attack,” Mattis said,in a wide-ranging hearing that was originally scheduled for members to discuss the Pentagon’s 2019 budget request. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders also said on Wednesday the intelligence community was still assessing the evidence but said, “the President holds Syria and Russia responsible for this chemical weapons attack.”

President Donald Trump, in a Thursday morning meeting with governors and members of Congress at the White House, said, “We're looking very, very seriously, very closely at that whole situation. And we'll see what happens, folks. We'll see what happens. It's too bad that the world puts us in a position like that…. But now we have to make some further decisions, so they'll be made fairly soon.”

“We’re looking for the actual evidence,” said Mattis, on Capitol Hill at the same time, noting that United Nations inspectors would arrive in the country “probably by the end of the week.” Those inspectors are working against the clock: The gases used dissipate over time, making it harder to confirm as days go by. But Mattis cautioned that even if they arrived as soon as possible, they wouldn’t be able to attribute the attack to anyone.

“We will not know, if this investigating team that goes in — if we get them in, if the regime will let them in — we will not know who did it,” he said. “They can only say they found evidence or did not.”

Mattis told lawmakers there are “a lot of ways to respond to the violation of the chemical weapons convention — diplomatically, economically, militarily.”

Mattis listed two concerns about directly attacking Assad regime targets: “There’s a tactical concern of innocent civilians — that we don’t add to any civilian deaths … We’re trying to stop the murder of innocent people,” he told Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Calif. “On a strategic level, it’s: how do we keep this from escalating out of control, if you get my drift on that.”

“I get your drift,” she replied.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday morning his country had proof Bashar al-Assad’s regime had carried out the attack. Other allies have been more cautious, but the U.K. government said Thursday the international community must “take action” against Syria to deter future use of chemical weapons.

After Trump met with the National Security Council Thursday afternoon, the White House said he would be speaking with both allies and had not yet reached a decision on how to respond.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.