President Trump did not consult with Congress or the United Nations before ordering an attack on a Syrian airfield. (Democracy Now!)

The United States attacked a Syrian airfield with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles Thursday without congressional approval. President Donald Trump ordered the military action — the first by the U.S. against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces since the Syrian war began more than six years ago. The action was in retaliation for this week’s chemical weapons attack against civilians in Syria that reportedly killed 86 people, including at least 30 children. Syria denied carrying out the attack and condemned the use of chemical weapons.

Democracy Now! discussed the U.S. attack with Lina Sergie Attar, a Syrian-American writer from Aleppo; Alia Malek, journalist and human rights lawyer; and Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.

While Attar was “very happy that there is one less airfield” in Syria, Bennis called the missile strikes “an act of war” and argued that “all sides in Syria have violated international law.”

“The hypocrisy of it from the vantage point of the Trump administration is staggering,” Bennis said.

READ: Trump Intervenes in the Civil War in Syria

Read the transcript of the discussion here.

—Posted by Eric Ortiz

 Your support is crucial…

With an uncertain future and a new administration casting doubt on press freedoms, the danger is clear: The truth is at risk.

Now is the time to give. Your tax-deductible support allows us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes what’s really happening — without compromise.

Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and unearth untold stories.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG
In this Article:
#civil war#democracy now#donald trump#international law#missile#syria#war