White House warning meant to deter Syria chemical attack
The Donald Trump administration made it clear to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces that it will not allow another gas attack.
WASHINGTON — A late-night White House warning on June 26 that the United States had detected potential preparations for a chemical weapons attack in Syria was meant as a deterrent, the Donald Trump administration said today.
The White House defended the unusual statement — and the sparsity of evidence it has provided for making it — by saying it was meant to save lives.
“Look, I think that our goal every day is to do what we can to protect life in all forms and to take steps to move the ball forward in defeating [the Islamic State], defeating all efforts at terrorism,” White House deputy spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said at her White House press briefing. “I think the statement yesterday helped do that.”
The remarks come after the White House sent out a press statement to reporters just before 10 p.m. on June 26 warning that if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price.”
