DOD(WASHINGTON) — The missile strikes launched in response to Syria’s alleged chemical weapons attack on its own citizens “sent a strong message to Syria, Russia, to Iran,” White House principal press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
The airstrikes conducted by the U.S., Britain and France succeeded, Sanders told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on This Week Sunday. “They 100 percent met their objectives.”
Sanders continued, “They went out to destroy critical chemical weapons infrastructure in Syria and they did exactly that. And they also sent a strong message to Syria, to Russia, to Iran that when this president has a red line, he will enforce it,” she said referring to the administration’s “red line” against use of chemical weapons.
Asked by Stephanopoulos if President Donald Trump plans to act on his earlier announcement to end the U.S. presence in Syria, Sanders said the United States has three objectives in Syria: Defeating ISIS, containing Iran, and ending the use of chemical weapons.
“We have to stop the spread and the use of mass chemical weapons,” she said.
In a report released by the White House on Saturday, hours after the missile attack on Syria, the administration stated, “The United States assesses with confidence that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons in the eastern Damascus suburb of [Douma] on April 7, 2018, killing dozens of men, women, and children, and severely injuring hundreds more.”
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