<p class="title">President Donald Trump on Saturday described the alleged chemical attacks in Syria as the "crimes of a monster" as the US launched precision strikes on the war-torn nation jointly with the UK and France.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump ordered the launch of air strikes on Syria and accused President Bashar al-Assad of "barbarism and brutality".</p>.<p class="bodytext">The US president claimed that the joint action was meant to establish a "strong deterrent" against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons. Trump said he has ordered "precision strikes" against Syria, where dozens of people were killed last weekend in a suspected toxic gas attack on Douma, the largest town in a former rebel stronghold outside Damascus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"These are not the actions of a man; they are crimes of a monster instead," Trump said in an address to the nation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump said the US would maintain pressure on Syria until the Assad regime suspends use of chemical weapons.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria," he said, thanking the UK and France for joining the US in its fight against the Syrian regime.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Today, the nations of Britain, France, and the United States of America have marshaled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality," Trump said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He attacked the Assad regime for "deploying chemical weapons to slaughter innocent civilians", referring to the alleged atrocity in Douma last Saturday. "This massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime," Trump alleged.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The US president sought to bring back the vestiges of World War I, after which civilised nations joined together to ban chemical warfare.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He noted that chemical weapons not only inflict gruesome suffering but also even small amounts of them can unleash widespread devastation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The purpose of our actions is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons. Establishing this deterrent is a vital national security interest of the US," he said.</p>.<p class="byline">"The combined American, British, and French response to these atrocities will integrate all instruments of our national power -- military, economic, and diplomatic. We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents," he said.</p>
<p class="title">President Donald Trump on Saturday described the alleged chemical attacks in Syria as the "crimes of a monster" as the US launched precision strikes on the war-torn nation jointly with the UK and France.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump ordered the launch of air strikes on Syria and accused President Bashar al-Assad of "barbarism and brutality".</p>.<p class="bodytext">The US president claimed that the joint action was meant to establish a "strong deterrent" against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons. Trump said he has ordered "precision strikes" against Syria, where dozens of people were killed last weekend in a suspected toxic gas attack on Douma, the largest town in a former rebel stronghold outside Damascus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"These are not the actions of a man; they are crimes of a monster instead," Trump said in an address to the nation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Trump said the US would maintain pressure on Syria until the Assad regime suspends use of chemical weapons.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"America does not seek an indefinite presence in Syria," he said, thanking the UK and France for joining the US in its fight against the Syrian regime.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Today, the nations of Britain, France, and the United States of America have marshaled their righteous power against barbarism and brutality," Trump said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He attacked the Assad regime for "deploying chemical weapons to slaughter innocent civilians", referring to the alleged atrocity in Douma last Saturday. "This massacre was a significant escalation in a pattern of chemical weapons use by that very terrible regime," Trump alleged.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The US president sought to bring back the vestiges of World War I, after which civilised nations joined together to ban chemical warfare.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He noted that chemical weapons not only inflict gruesome suffering but also even small amounts of them can unleash widespread devastation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The purpose of our actions is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons. Establishing this deterrent is a vital national security interest of the US," he said.</p>.<p class="byline">"The combined American, British, and French response to these atrocities will integrate all instruments of our national power -- military, economic, and diplomatic. We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents," he said.</p>