According to Woodward, following the alleged chemical attack at Khan Shaykhun on April 4, 2017, which Syrian and Russian officials slammed as a false flag attack aimed at discrediting the Syrian government, President Trump was so furious that he wanted to assassinate Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
In a telephone call with Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Trump allegedly said the following, according to Woodward: "Let’s f***ing kill him! Let’s go in. Let’s kill the f***ing lot of them."
Telling the president that he would deal with it, Mattis hung up the phone and instead allegedly told an aide: "We’re not going to do any of that. We’re going to be much more measured."
Three days later, following internal consultations, but before the alleged chemical attack could be properly investigated, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea at the Shayrat air base, in what Washington claimed was a direct response to the Khan Shaykhun "attack."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the US aggression a violation of international law, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei describing it as a strategic mistake.
The US strike, which killed several Syrian troops and civilians, and destroyed several planes, failed to reach its objectives of crippling the Syrian Air Force, with aircraft taking off from the base’s runways just hours after the attack to strike terrorist targets.