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Wednesday 11 April 2018

'Get Ready, Russia': Donald Trump Issues Terrifying Threat To Putin And 'Gas Killing Animal' Assad After Kremlin Vows To Shoot Down Any Missiles Fired at Syria And Attack US ships that launch them

The US military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order this morning with a Navy destroyer – armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles – underway in the eastern Mediterranean
Donald Trump (main) today used Twitter to warn that a missile attack on Syria is imminent - hours after the Kremlin vowed to shoot down any rockets, fired at the Assad regime in retaliation for last week's gas atrocity. 

The US President tweeted: '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!" You shouldn't be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!' His threat came hours after Moscow's ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, said any US missiles fired at Syria would be shot down by Russia and the launch sites targeted. 


The last few hours have seen a dramatic ratcheting of tensions in the Middle East where Russian forces are propping up dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and American forces are backing some of his opponents. The US military appeared to be in a position to carry out any attack order this morning (top right) with a Navy destroyer - armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles - underway in the eastern Mediterranean.


Donald Trump flexed his military muscle Tuesday by tweeting an Oval Office image of 19 of his most senior military commanders. The group is pictured above left to right, Army General Curtis Scaparrotti (1), Army General Mark Milley (2), Marine Corps General Robert Neller (3), U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Paul Zukunft (4), Navy Admiral Kurt W. Tidd (5), Army General Raymond A Thomas (6), Marine Corps General Thomas D. Waldhauser (7), Air Force General Paul Selva (8), Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford (9), Defense Secretary James Mattis (10), President Donald Trump (11), Vice President Mike Pence (12), Navy Admiral Michael Rodgers (13), Navy Admiral John Richardson (14), Army General Joseph Votel (15), Air Force General David Goldfein (16), Air Force General John E Hyten (17), Air Force General Joseph L. Lengyel (18), Air Force General Lori Robinson (19), Patrick M. Shanahan (20), Navy Admiral Harry Harris (21), Air Force General Darren W McDew (22), U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Karl Schultz (23)
Donald Trump flexed his military muscle Tuesday by tweeting an Oval Office image of 19 of his most senior military commanders. The group is pictured above left to right, Army General Curtis Scaparrotti (1), Army General Mark Milley (2), Marine Corps General Robert Neller (3), U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Paul Zukunft (4), Navy Admiral Kurt W. Tidd (5), Army General Raymond A Thomas (6), Marine Corps General Thomas D. Waldhauser (7), Air Force General Paul Selva (8), Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford (9), Defense Secretary James Mattis (10), President Donald Trump (11), Vice President Mike Pence (12), Navy Admiral Michael Rodgers (13), Navy Admiral John Richardson (14), Army General Joseph Votel (15), Air Force General David Goldfein (16), Air Force General John E Hyten (17), Air Force General Joseph L. Lengyel (18), Air Force General Lori Robinson (19), Patrick M. Shanahan (20), Navy Admiral Harry Harris (21), Air Force General Darren W McDew (22), U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Karl Schultz (23)
The president declared Wednesday that the U.S.-Russia relationship has never been worse – not even during the Cold War
The Syrian air defence system is understood to have been heavily damaged but Russia has a formidable S-400 system (pictured), which has been in place in Syria for more than a year
The Syrian air defence system is understood to have been heavily damaged but Russia has a formidable S-400 system (pictured), which has been in place in Syria for more than a year


'America’s enemies must never know our plans or believe they can wait us out. I will not say when we are going to attack, but attack we will,' he said August 21.

That mirrored complaints he tweeted more than five years ago when President Barack Obama was openly contemplating military action in Syria: 'For all of those fools that want to attack Syria, the U.S.has lost the vital element of surprise-so stupid-could be a disaster!'

'In war, the elememt [sic] of surprise is sooooo important,' Trump added then. 'What the hell is Obama doing.'

Volunteers give aid to children at a hospital following the chemical attack in Douma
Defense Secretary James Mattis, too, has expressed a strong preference for surprise attacks over advance warnings, writing in the 2018 National Defense Strategy document that America's military should 'be strategically predictable, but operationally unpredictable.' 

The last few hours have seen a dramatic ratcheting of tensions in the Middle East where Russian forces are propping up dictator Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria and American forces are backing some of his opponents.

Britain, France and the U.S. are continuing to discuss possible strikes to punish Assad for the chemical attack on Saturday, in which 43 were killed and others left gasping for air and foaming at the mouth. 

The U.S. military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order Wednesday morning with a Navy destroyer – armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles – underway in the eastern Mediterranean.
Amid rising tensions, Moscow's United Nations envoy Vasily Nebenzia had earlier pleaded with America not to strike and warned the U.S. it will 'bear responsibility' for any 'illegal military adventure' it carries out.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged restraint this morning, saying countries should avoid taking action that could further destabilize the war-torn country.

This morning, the pan-European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol warned aircraft to be careful when flying close to Syria. It said that air-to-ground and/or cruise missiles could be used within the next three days and there was a possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment. 

'Due to the possible launch of air strikes into Syria with air-to-ground and/or cruise missiles within the next 72 hours, and the possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment, due consideration needs to be taken when planning flight operations in the Eastern Mediterranean/Nicosia FIR area,' it said, referring to the designated airspace. 

Aviation regulators in countries including the US, UK, France and Germany have previously issued warnings against airlines entering Syrian airspace leading most carriers to avoid the area.

The only commercial flights above Syria as of 9:15 p.m. Tuesday were being flown by Syrian Air and Lebanon's Middle East Airlines, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
Trump blasted his predecessor Barack Obama in 2003 for telegraphing his military moves in the Middle East – the same thing he appears to be doing this week.

The Eurocontrol statement included a broader area outside the airspace controlled by Damascus.

The Nicosia flight information region named in the Eurocontrol statement on Tuesday covers the island of Cyprus and surrounding waters, according to a map on the agency's website. The same map did not designate any specific territory as being the 'Eastern Mediterranean' region. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order this morning with a Navy destroyer, the USS Donald Cook, getting underway in the eastern Mediterranean on Monday after completing a port call in Cyprus.

The guided missile destroyer is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, the weapon of choice in a U.S. attack one year ago on an airfield in Syria following an alleged sarin gas attack on civilians.

Also, the Navy said the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its strike group will depart Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday for a regularly scheduled deployment to Europe. 

The U.S. military appeared to be in position to carry out any attack order this morning and the Navy said the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier and its strike group will depart Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday for a regularly scheduled deployment to Europe

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad (pictured) has been blamed for the chemical attack near Damascus on Saturday

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