Report: Pentagon Persuaded Trump To Tone Down Syria Strikes

The Pentagon managed to persuade President Trump to tone down airstrikes on Syria after he initially favored a much more robust attack than the one that took place last week, according to a report. The Wall Street Journal reported Defense Secretary Jim Mattis presented the White House with three options for the attack; one aimed at Syria's chemical weapons capabilities, another including a wider range of military targets, and another which could have included strikes on Russian air defenses in Syria and was designed to cripple President Assad's military capabilities. Trump reportedly urged the defense team to consider strikes on Russian and Iranian targets in Syria but Mattis successfully pushed back, warning a more robust attack risked a dangerous backlash from Moscow and Tehran. The strike ended up being aimed at three targets designed to hamper the Syrian regime’s ability to use chemical weapons and deter Assad from using them again.