Pentagon Claims US Missile Attack in Syria Hit Every Target
source: sputniknews.com
The Pentagon has commented on the US missile attack, which had been conducted jointly with its allies Britain and France, shortly after President Donald Trump hailed the strikes, saying that the “mission is accomplished.”
According to Pentagon’s spokesperson Dana W. White, the Western missile attack doesn’t mean the change of Washington’s policy toward Syria.
“We took every measure and precaution to strike only what we targeted, and we successfully hit every target. This operation does not represent a change in US policy, nor an attempt to depose the Syrian regime,” White said during a press briefing at the Pentagon.
The Pentagon claims that the US goals in Syria have not changed — it’s the fight against the Daesh.
The spokesperson added that strikes were precise, overwhelming and effective.
“We launched these strikes to cripple Syria’s ability to use chemical weapons in the future. Americans are united in condemning Syria’s inexcusable use of chemical weapons which no civilized nation would tolerate. We are encouraged by the support we received from the Senators and Congressmen on both sides of the aisle,” White told reporters.
“As of now, we are not aware of any civilian casualties… Right now, we have no reporting of any civilian casualties against any of the targets that we struck, and we will continue to look at this closely as we go ahead,” US Joint Staff Director Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said during a press briefing.
McKenzie noted that the fact that Syria had shot 40 missiles into the air, and they fell down somewhere subsequently, should also be recognized as “a part of the equation.”
“Syrian regime knows that we’ve been looking at these targets for a long time, so it’s possible that some people might have left. We also chose to strike at 3 o’clock in the morning — 4 o’clock in the morning local time, so we were not trying to kill a lot of people on the objective. If so, we would have stuck in different time of the day. I believe, however, that there is material and equipment associated with each of this sides that was not movable, and that’s what really sets them back,” Director of the Joint Staff Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said.
The US has not seen any military response from actors in Syria after the airstrike, no indication that Russian defense systems were employed during the strike, Pentagon’s spokesperson said.
She added that no Syrian weapon had any effect on the US operation.
