All options on table after Syria chemical attack, White House says

By ELI OKUN
Politico, April 8, 2018 – White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert said on Sunday that nothing should be taken “off the table” after reports of an apparent chemical attack in Syria.
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Bossert said President Donald Trump’s national security team had been reviewing photos and information throughout the night. The incident Saturday in the Damascus suburb of Douma left at least 42 people dead, rescue workers reported, though Syria and Russia denied the use of any chemical weapons.
The reported attack comes almost exactly a year after another Syrian chemical attack prompted Trump to launch a missile strike on a Syrian air base.
Trump slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran for the “mindless CHEMICAL attack,” adding that they will pay a “big price” for their actions.
“Open area immediately for medical help and verification,” the president wrote on Twitter. “Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever.”
The president later added that it was his predecessor President Barack Obama’s fault for the attack, since the Obama administration did not do enough to enforce the “red line” with Syria.
“If President Obama had crossed his stated Red Line In The Sand, the Syrian disaster would have ended long ago! Animal Assad would have been history!,” Trump added.
In August 2013, Obama declared that Syria had crossed the red line by using chemical weapons against its own people and that he would be seeking Congressional authorization for any strikes. The push for strikes eventually fizzled, and the U.S. went along with Russian-proposed efforts for Syria to peacefully remove over 1,000 tons of its chemical weapon stockpile.
The Syrian government, with Russian support, is in the final stages of retaking a cluster of rebel-held Damascus suburbs. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have lived under siege for months or fled.
The latest attack could pose fresh challenges for Trump, who has said repeatedly in recent days that he wants to pull U.S. troops out of Syria. The administration announced Wednesday the military mission “is coming to a rapid end,” but didn’t offer specific withdrawal plans.
On Sunday, Bossert defended the approach, saying “the pendulum has swung in the wrong direction for too long and the United States of America has been taken advantage of in their responsibility to provide security for the entire world.”
“American troops aren’t going to fix six or seven different ongoing conflicts and wars going on in the Middle East or in Syria at this stage,” he added. “We need regional partnership increased, and we need U.S. presence decreased.”
The U.S. has about 2,000 troops in Syria, aimed at staving off any Islamic State resurgence.