Ivanka Trump says she’s ‘heartbroken’ over Syria
Trump recently signed an executive order to temporarily ban Syrian refugees, as well as travelers from six Muslim-majority nations, from traveling to the U.S. That ban has been challenged by the courts. Activists and eyewitnesses said that the strike was conducted by the government of the Syrian president. “China is indifferent. And I hate to say this, I think he’s gonna get away with it again”.
Erdogan, in his first public reaction to the incident, said that more than 100 people, including children, “became martyrs due to chemical weapons”.
Al Jazeera are reporting that the draft text, as seen by Reuters, will call on the Syrian government to provide an worldwide investigation with flight plans and logs for Tuesday, the names of all helicopter squadron commanders and provide access to air bases where investigators believe attacks using chemicals may have been launched. “They have played the chemical card before and it has come out that the chemical weapons did not belong to Syria, did not belong to President Assad, did not belong to the Russians”, he said. Use of sarin would be especially troubling because it would suggest Syria may have cheated on its previous deal to give up chemical weapons. “I encourage, furthermore, efforts of those who, even amid insecurity and discomfort, strive to allow aid to reach the inhabitants of that region”.
“That statement of President Trump’s is rich”.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “confident” that the Security Council would ensure accountability for the war crimes committed in Syria, including the latest alleged chemical weapons attack.
Iran and Russian Federation have been Assad’s key backers in the six-year conflict, and refer to all rebel groups in the country as “terrorists”.
The President condemned the attack as “heinous”. The Syrian military denied responsibility. France has supported Syrian rebels against Assad for years.
Trump doubled down on his criticism of the Obama administration’s approach toward Syria, but said that the attack which has killed at least 72 people “had a big impact on me” and has changed his approach toward the country.
The 15-member United Nations Security Council was briefed on the attack on Wednesday.
Over 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests. They noted that US presidents have rarely attacked their predecessors so aggressively for events like chemical weapons attacks that Democrats and Republicans both abhor.
According to The New York Times, who spoke with witnesses, dozens of people died after breathing in poison dropped by warplanes that possibly contained a nerve agent or other banned chemicals. Their envoy said both that insurgents were responsible for chemical attacks, and that videos of chemical weapons victims were staged by nongovernmental organizations.
It said the deaths were caused when a Syrian air strike hit a “terrorist warehouse” used for making bombs containing “toxic substances”, and pledged to continue its military support for Assad.