Nikki Haley has declared the Trump administration ‘locked and loaded’ to carry out further airstrikes on Syria in the event of a further chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime.
The US ambassador to the UN, speaking at an emergency meeting called by Russia, said President Trump had drawn a ‘red line’ on the use of chemical weapons which ‘he would always keep’.
America joined Britain and France in striking three targets as revenge against Assad’s chemical attack on the rebel enclave of Douma on April 7, with bombers and fast jets firing more than 100 missiles.
The US ambassador to the UN, speaking at an emergency meeting called by Russia on Saturday, said President Trump had drawn a ‘red line’ on the use of chemical weapons which ‘he would always keep’
‘The time for talk ended last night,’ Haley said. ‘We are prepared to sustain this pressure, if the Syrian regime is foolish enough to test our will.
‘The United States is locked and loaded,’ she said. ‘When our President draws a red line, our President enforces a red line.’
She also accused the Russians of covering up for Assad, who she said had used chemical weapons 50 times in the past seven years of warfare.
‘Russia can complain all it wants about fake news, but no one is buying its lies and its cover-ups,’ she said of Syria’s strongest ally,’ Haley said. ‘Russia was supposed to guarantee Assad would not use chemical weapons, and Russia did the opposite.’
Haley’s Russian counterpart, Vassily Nebenzia, (right) hit back by accusing the US-led coalition of provoking conflict
Her Russian counterpart, Vassily Nebenzia, hit back by accusing the US of ‘hooliganism’ and breaking international law.
‘Why are you seeking to plunge the Middle East into such difficulties, provoking one conflict after another, pitting one state against another?’ he said.
‘Is the latest wave of chaos being unleashed only for the sake of that?’
Haley said President Trump had drawn a ‘red line’ on the use of chemical weapons which ‘he would always keep’
The raids hit two chemical weapons facilities and a military command post in Syria on Friday night in retaliation for President Assad’s chemical attack that left up 75 civilians dead last week.
The strikes were double the size of those in 2017, and were described as ‘perfectly executed’ by President Trump.
Damascus skies erupt with surface to air missile fire as the US unleashes 76 missiles on a chemical weapons facility, which was destroyed
This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows smoke rising from airstrikes on a chemical weapons research center outside Damascus. The flame on the right of the image is an anti-aircraft gun