Article snippet: MORE announced Friday he has ordered “precision strikes” against Syria in retaliation for an apparent chemical weapons attack by the forces of Syrian leader Bashar Assad. During a televised address at the White House, Trump said France and the United Kingdom had joined in the strikes, which he said are targeting sites related to Syria’s chemical weapons program. Loud explosions were reportedly heard in the Syrian capital of Damascus as Trump announced the strikes just after 4 a.m. local time in the Middle East. Trump called last weekend’s chemical attack a "significant escalation" of the Syrian government’s efforts to inflict pain on its own citizens — something for which he said Assad deserved to be punished. "These are not the actions of a man; they are crimes of a monster instead,” the president said. The strike could increase U.S. involvement in the seven-year-old Syrian civil war, something Trump has said he wanted to avoid. The president declared just 10 days ago he wants to withdraw the roughly 2,000 American troops in Syria fighting Islamic State forces there. The announcement shocked military commanders, who scrambled to craft a plan to satisfy Trump's desire. Critics on Friday also seized on Trump’s decision not to seek congressional approval for the attacks. “President Trump’s decision to launch airstrikes against the Syrian government without Congress’s approval is illegal and – absent a broader strategy – it’s reckless,” said Sen. MORE (D-Va.). Tru... Link to the full article to read more