Syria After the Missile Strikes

White Helmets are Syrian volunteers, members of civil society, accountants, firefighters, who come from all ethnic, religious and political factions. What these civil society people have in common is that they are the ones seen on television rushing in to collapsing buildings to rescue people. They have saved some 70,000 people. On April 4th, facing an opposition offensive against key infrastructure, the regime in Syria launched a sarin gas attack in southern Idlib Province. Eighty-five people-including many children-died from that attack. The effects of sarin gas are immediate: The nose runs, eyes water, the mouth drools and this progresses to convulsions, paralysis, and in many cases death in less than 10 minutes. Assad was sending a demoralizing message to the civilian population there. It was: "I can kill with impunity-with some of the worst weapons of war-and no one will help you." But in a matter of days, the Syrian regime did pay a price. Two days later, nearly 60 Tomahawk missiles-fired from U.S. Navy ships operating in international waters-targeted the Syrian airfield from which the sarin attacks had launched. In a limited and targeted response, U.S. forces destroyed 23 Syrian warplanes and supporting infrastructure. This use of force was proportional, legitimate, and welcomed by our allies in the region and around the world. For after 6 years of unrestrained murder of Syrians, Assad was finally on the receiving end. Finally, "red lines" mattered. Finally, the United States was leading.