U.S. missile strike on Syria (2018)

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This page was created on March 18, 2018. The attack happened on April 14, 2018.‎
For further details and discussion, see the talk page. (To see what is hot, see recent changes)
U.S. Navy ship launching a Tomahawk cruise missile

Chemical weapons false flag preparations

  • US Prepared Militants for Conducting Chemical Attacks, Poised to Hit Syria - MoD - Sputnik, March 17, 2018
  • US training Syria militants for false flag chemical attack as basis for airstrikes – Russian MoD - RT, March 17, 2018
    “We have reliable information at our disposal that US instructors have trained a number of militant groups in the vicinity of the town of At-Tanf, to stage provocations involving chemical warfare agents in southern Syria,” Russian General Staff spokesman General Sergey Rudskoy said at a news briefing on Saturday.
    “Early in March, the saboteur groups were deployed to the southern de-escalation zone to the city of Deraa, where the units of the so-called Free Syrian Army are stationed.”
    “They are preparing a series of chemical munitions explosions. This fact will be used to blame the government forces. The components to produce chemical munitions have been already delivered to the southern de-escalation zone under the guise of humanitarian convoys of a number of NGOs.”
  • Four days to declare a Cold War - Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, March 20, 2018 (Unz Review)
    Their plan was to fabricate an attack against an ex-double agent in Salisbury and at the same time a chemical attack against the « moderate rebels » in the Ghouta. The conspirators’ intention was to profit from the efforts of Syria to liberate the suburbs of its capital city and the disorganisation of Russia on the occasion of its Presidential election. Had these manipulations worked, the United Kingdom would have pushed the USA to bomb Damascus, including the Presidential palace, and demand that the United Nations General Assembly exclude Russia from the Security Council.
  • Russian Trolls Denied Syrian Gas Attack—Before It Happened - Adam Rawnsley, Daily Beast, April 12, 2018
    Beginning in early March, Russia’s ministry of defense began to claim that it had picked up intelligence about “provocations” planned by Islamist militant groups outside Damascus designed “to accuse government troops of using chemical weapons in the Eastern Ghouta against civilians.” Defense ministry officials later elaborated that the conspiracy to mount false-flag chemical attacks involved a whole cast of characters ranging from U.S. special operations forces operating in the Syrian desert to Free Syrian Army members in the south of the country to al Qaeda members in Idlib Province.
  • Chemical Attack’ Provocation With US Participation Planned In Syria – Source - Muraselon, May 3, 2018

Chemical weapons allegations

See also Poisoning of Sergei Skripal‎

Russian warnings of U.S. attack

Alleged positions of U.S. Navy ships on March 17, 2018
NATO ships around eastern Mediterranean on March 23, 2018
March 13
March 17
March 20
April 6
April 11
  • 'Get ready Russia' - Donald Trump tells Putin and Assad to expect missile attack as he says relations now worse than during Cold War - The Telegraph, April 11, 2018
    Earlier, Alexander Zasypkin, the Russian envoy to Beirut, said: “If there is an American strike, then we... will shoot down the missiles and target the positions from where they were launched.
    Mr Zasypkin’s comments, made in an interview with a Hizbollah-affiliated television channel, are the sternest Russian warning yet against American strikes. They go beyond previous threats that Russian troops would use their missile defence systems to shield the Assad regime.
    Note, that The Telegraph is wrong. The same statement was made a month ago.

Preparations for attack

US likely to launch missile attack.jpg
In black the main targets of the supposed US-led coalition invasion, and in blue the secondary targets, in orange key positions that will likely be captured during the first phase of the invasion
Nikki Haley at the UN on 5 April 2018 with Dr Morad of Syrian American Medical Society. SAMS are known for promoting false-flag chemical weapons provocations.
USS Donald Cook in the eastern Mediterranean only 100 km from Tartus on April 9, 2018
Hit Syria without a vote, May urged!
Donald J. Trump tweets: "Get ready Russia!"

Russian preparations

Attack cancelled?

Douma chlorine bomb

US State Department statement on the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma
Main article: Alleged Chemical Attack, April 7, 2018

Israeli attack

See Israel Air Strikes in Syria → 2018

April 14th missile attack

Claims about targets and success
FUKUS Syria/Russia
Total 105 missiles fired, all hit their targets 103 missiles detected by air defenses, 71 were intercepted.
Targets
  • 76 missiles – “Barzah Research and Development Center”
  • 22 missiles – “Him Shinshar Chemical Weapons Storage Site”
  • 7 missiles – “Him Shinshar CW Bunker”
  • 4 missiles were launched at the area of the Damascus International Airport. All missiles were intercepted.
  • 12 missiles were launched at the Al-Dumayr Military Airport. All missiles were intercepted.
  • 18 missiles were launched at the Baly Military Airport. All missiles were intercepted.
  • 12 missiles were launched at the Shayarat Military Airport. All missiles were intercepted.
  • 2 missiles targeted the Tiyas airfield. All missiles were intercepted.
  • 9 missiles were launched at the Mezzeh Military Airport. 5 missiles were intercepted.
  • 16 missiles were launched at the Homs Military Airport. 13 missiles were intercepted.
  • 30 missiles were launched at targets in the areas of Barzah and Jaramani. 5 missiles were intercepted.
Origins
  • The USS Monterey CG61 fired 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Red Sea.
  • The USS Laboon DDG58 launched 7 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Red Sea.
  • The USS Higgins DDG76 launched 23 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Persian Gulf.
  • The USS John Warner SSN785 launched 6 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Mediterranean.
  • The French frigate LANGUEDOC launched 3 Storm Shadow/SCALP EG (French naval variant is called “Missile de Croisière Naval”) cruise missiles from the Mediterranean. Three more failed to launch.[1]
  • B-1B strategic bombers launched 19 AGM-158 JASSM [Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile] air-launched cruise missiles.
  • British Tornados launched 8 Storm Shadow/SCALP EG air-launched cruise missiles.
  • French Rafale launched 9 Storm Shadow/SCALP EG air-launched cruise missiles. One more failed to launch.[2]
  • Fired 3.42-3.50 a.m. Moscow Time, April 14, 2018, from sea and air carriers, from the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Mediterranean, and 'illegally occupied by US forces Syrian region Al-Tanf'.
Defences The Syrians fired 40 interceptor missiles, but most of them didn’t even get off the ground until allied missiles had already hit their targets, Pentagon officials said.[3] In total, Syrian air defence systems fired 112 air defence missiles.
  • Pantsyr AD system fired 25 missiles and hit 23 targets;
  • Buk system fired 29 missiles and hit 24 targets;
  • Osa system fired 11 and hit 5 targets;
  • S-125 system fired 13 missiles and hit 5 targets;
  • Strela-10 system fired 5 missiles and hit 3 targets;
  • Kvadrat system fired 21 and hit 11 targets;
  • S-200 system fired 8 and hit no targets.
Source Pentagon Press Briefing, April 14, 2018 Russian MoD Press Briefing, April 16, 2018
Targets shown on country map
Barzah Research and Development Center after the attack
Syrian air defenses firing. Results analyzed on talk page
Articles
See also Syria's chemical weapons stockpile
Three of the six cruise missiles the French frigate tried to fire failed to start. One of the ten missiles the French Rafale jets were supposed to fire also didn't take off.
I am told by several foreign sources with access to the information needed to make a valid judgment that the Russians are correct. These people are friendly to the United States as are their governments. Over two thirds of the US coalition missiles failed to reach their targets. Why? All the reasons cited above must have played a role in this aerial defeat. Obsolescent weapons, a fully integrated air defense and skill brought to the fight.

Recovered missiles

Deir ez-Zor?

Ohio-class submarine?

August-September 2018

2019

Analysis

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