A nation must think before it acts.
After reviewing the evidence and considering the options available to him, President Donald Trump ordered a proportionate strike on the Syrian air base where it is believed that the aircraft responsible for the chemical-weapons attack that occurred earlier this week in Idlib Province was based. According to different sources, the United States used its deconfliction channel with the Russian military to inform Moscow that a limited cruise missile strike against Shayrat Air Base would occur. There have been no reports that any Russian personnel were killed or wounded, or Russian assets damaged or destroyed.
Does this action now put Russia and the United States on a collision course in Syria? Does it end any possibility of cooperation between Moscow and Washington to work together to find a political solution to the Syrian Civil War while ensuring that groups like the Islamic State are not able to regain lost ground in the region?