Article snippet: Defense Secretary Trump announced that the U.S., in concert with France and the United Kingdom, had launched "precision strikes" on Syria in retaliation for a deadly chemical attack in a Damascus suburb last weekend. The strike, announced in the early morning hours local time in Damascus, was the second authorized by Trump against Syria in the span of roughly a year. In April 2017, he ordered a missile strike on a Syrian air base in response to a chemical weapons attack in the country's northern Idlib province. That attack dealt only modest damage. In the lead-up to Friday's strike, Trump was said to be considering a more robust response in Syria than the one a year earlier. "We used a little over double the number of weapons this year than we used last year," Mattis said Friday night. "We were very precise and proportionate, but at the same time, it was a heavy strike." The U.S. and other Western countries have blamed Assad's government for the chemical attack last weekend. Syria and its allies, Russia and Iran, have denied that the government used chemical weapons. The Hill 1625 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington DC 20006 | 202-628-8500 tel | 202-628-8503 fax The contents of this site are ©2018 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc. Link to the full article to read more