US Warns Syria against Gas Attacks on Ghouta; Due to Reports that Chlorine Gas Is Being Used

In what might well be a forerunner to another U.S. missile attack on Syria by the U.S. for its use of illegal deadly chemical weapons, U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis warned Syria today (March 11, 2018) that it would be "very unwise" to use gas as a weapon in its bombardment of rebel strongholds in eastern Ghouta, according to the VOA News website.


Mattis said "right now" the U.S. is "getting reports" that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces are using chlorine gas in their three-week advance against the rebels outside the capital, Damascus, that has left nearly 1,000 dead, including 200 children.


The U.S. defense chief acknowledged to reporters that he was aware of "an awful lot of reports about chlorine gas use or about symptoms that could be resulting from chlorine gas."


President Donald Trump last April ordered a missile strike -- and 59 missiles were fired -- against a Syrian airbase at Shayrat after the U.S. said Syria used the facility to launch a sarin nerve gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun.