Syria attack timing????

Trump on Syria attack timing: 'Could be very soon or not so soon at all!'

By LOUIS NELSON

President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that he had not surrendered the element of surprise by announcing plans to launch a missile strike against Syria, writing online that he had said nothing regarding the timing of his planned strike.

“Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!” the president wrote on Twitter. “In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our ‘Thank you America?’”

Trump announced Wednesday that he intended to launch a missile strike against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, retaliation for the government’s alleged use of chemical weapons on a civilian population in a suburb of Damascus last weekend.

The president’s willingness to announce plans for a military strike ran counter to his long-held position against telegraphing such moves, a practice he has called stupid and accused his predecessors of.

Such a strike would be the second of Trump's presidency: A 2016 chemical weapon attack by Assad's regime prompted Trump to order the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles against the airstrip where the chemical attack was believed to have originated. That airstrip was quickly repaired.

In announcing plans to strike Assad’s regime, Trump also dismissed pledges from Russia, a close ally of Syria, to shoot down any U.S. missile strike.

“Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’” Trump wrote online Wednesday. “You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”

In response to Trump's warning, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman wrote on Facebook that any U.S. missile strike would destroy evidence of the alleged chemical weapons attack. Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, after Russian-sponsored resolutions failed to garner enough votes at the Security Council, said “I would once again ask you, once again beseech you, to refrain from the plans that you’re currently developing for Syria,” according to Reuters.

Trump has been accused often of holding a relatively soft foreign policy stance towards Russia, especially relative to his tougher posturing elsewhere around the world, as a result of his previous warm words for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his months-long reluctance to blame the Kremlin for its efforts to interfere in the 2016 election. He has regularly called the investigation into those efforts, as well as allegations that his campaign colluded with them, a "witch hunt."

The Trump administration, though, has insisted that it has been tougher on Russia than its predecessors, pointing to increased military spending and the imposition of sanctions. The Trump administration has also ordered closed two different Russian consulates, one in Seattle and another in San Francisco, and has expelled dozens of Russian diplomats.