INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Washington/United Nations: 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 organization.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 told Reuters 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, criticized 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.International bodies led by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were trying to
establish exactly what happened in Douma, a rebel-held town in the eastern Ghouta district.Syrian government forces had launched an air and
ground assault on Douma, the last town held by rebels in eastern Ghouta, on Friday. Child being treated after a suspected chemical attack
in Syria (Reuters)'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."The United States fired missiles on a Syrian
air base a year ago in response to the killing of dozens of civilians in a sarin gas attack in an opposition-held town
The missile strikes did little long-term damage to Syrian government forces and Assad's position has only become stronger with Iranian and
Russian support.The stakes are higher for any new US military action, with Trump explicitly mentioning Iran and Russia in connection with
the weekend attack.US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Monday accused Russia of falling short on its obligations to ensure that Syria
abandoned its chemical weapons capabilities.The Russian military said on Monday its medics had examined patients in a hospital in Douma and
had found no traces of a chemical attack, Interfax news agency reported.Russia and Syria both offered during the UN Security Council meeting
on Monday to take OPCW investigators to Douma.The OPCW did not immediately respond to a request for comment
But weapons inspectors are not expected to go to Syria after being attacked twice while tying to get to the sites of chemical weapons
attacks since 2013.Instead, they have in recent investigations gathered blood samples from victims and interviewed witnesses outside
Syria.The United States plans to call for a UN Security Council vote on Tuesday on a proposal for a new inquiry into responsibility for the
use of chemical weapons in Syria, diplomats said.Monday Air StrikesThe Syria conflict was further complicated on Monday when unidentified
war planes struck a Syrian air base near Homs, killing at least 14 people, including Iranian personnel
Syria and Russia accused Israel of carrying out the attack.Israel, which has struck Syrian army locations many times in the course of its
neighbor's 7-year-old civil war, has neither confirmed nor denied mounting the raid.But Israeli officials said the Tiyas, or T-4, air base
was being used by troops from Iran and that Israel would not accept such a presence in Syria of its arch foe.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov said the strike on the T-4 base was a dangerous development.The incidents in Douma and Tiyas demonstrated the complex and volatile
nature of the Syria war, which involves a number of countries and insurgent groups.© Thomson Reuters 2018(Except for the headline, this
story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
