What the latest strike on Syria succeeded at (and what it didn’t)

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On April 13, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom launched the largest barrage of cruise missiles since the opening of the Gulf War. One hundred and five cruise missiles launched from sea and air struck three alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria. The majority of the US military's strike package—75 cruise missiles—targeted a cluster of three buildings on the outskirts of Damascus, in the midst of Syria's greatest concentration of air defenses.

But while President Donald Trump was quick to tweet "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED," US military officials have already acknowledged that the strikes did little to blunt Syria's capacity to manufacture and deliver chemical weapons. The mission was a compromise from the start, targeting facilities that would result in the lowest possible probability of loss of civilian life. And the US warned Russia in advance using the deconfliction line between the US and Russian militaries that there would be an operation over Syria, tipping off Russia and Syria of the strike Trump had already promised was coming.

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