WATCH: Allied cruise missiles launch as airstrikes on Syrian chemical weapon sites begin

It was late last night when President Trump announced that he had ordered U.S. airstrikes, in cooperation with Britain and France, against chemical weapon sites in Syria in response to last week’s chemical weapon attacks by the Syrian government. We didn’t wait long to get things started.

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This is a good and necessary start. But it’s still just a start.

Below is video of the first cruise missiles and warplanes taking off in the commencement of the attacks. Both Damascus and Homs were hit by the airstrikes. This move is necessary, although it’s not a substitute for a broader strategy in Syria. Trump last night challenged Russia and Iran as to whether they want to be associated with a regime that commits such atrocities. I’ll take a shot at answering: Russia and Iran don’t care. Assad is useful to them in the pursuit of their global strategic objectives, which is why they’ve propped him up to this point. They will continue to do that until we make it too costly for them to do so. This is a good and necessary start. But it’s still just a start.

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