Defense Secretary Jim Mattis became the third U.S. official in three days to warn Syria that any use of chemical weapons will draw a swift U.S. military response.
Mattis, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon on the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, said Syrian President Bashar Assad should have no doubts about American resolve given its punishing attacks in April of this year and in 2017.
“He’s been warned. And the first time around, he lost 17 percent of his pointy-nosed air force airplanes. He’s been warned, and so we’ll see if he’s wised up,” Mattis said.
On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence said “a wider world is watching” as Syria prepares to attack the northern province of Idlib, the last stronghold of the rebels.
“I want to make it very, very clear … the United States of America and our allies will take swift and decisive action against any use of chemical weapons in Idlib province,” Pence told Fox News Sunday.
That message was reinforced Monday by Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, who said Assad has been put on notice. “We have communicated that Damascus, and we hope they’ll adhere to it,” Manning said.
Asked if one-off strikes were an effective way to deter Assad from using chemical weapons, Mattis said, “How long afterwards did it take for him to use them again?”
Mattis also announced he will travel to Macedonia this weekend to send a message of solidarity.
Macedonia is the newest country to be invited to join NATO. The move infuriated Russia, which sees the Western alliance encroaching on its area of influence.
“I’m going to go out and see our Macedonian friends on a rather swift journey over there and back,” Mattis told reporters. “I’m going there to make very clear we stand with the Macedonian people.”
The visit comes two months after President Trump questioned the value of defending NATO newest member Montenegro against a Russian attack.
Both Macedonia and Montenegro were part of the former Yugoslavia.
In an interview in July on Fox, Tucker Carlson asked Trump, “Why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack?”
“I understand what you’re saying. I’ve asked the same question,” Trump responded. “Montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people. … They’re very aggressive people. They may get aggressive. And, congratulations, you’re in World War III.”
Mattis said the goal of his trip is “to make very clear we stand with the Macedonian people,” in the face of Russian efforts to undermine plans to make the tiny Balkan state the 30th member of NATO.
Officials in Montenegro have accused Moscow of attempting to have the country’s prime minister assassinated and trying to stage a coup to prevent the country from joining NATO, and Mattis indicated he’s worried that Macedonia might face similar interference from Russia.
“I am concerned about it. I think that democracies should be left alone,” Mattis said. “The kind of mischief that Russia has practiced from Estonia to the United States, from Ukraine and now to Macedonia … it’s always beyond the pale, as far as I’m concerned.”
Mattis said his goal is “to make sure that they know that we believe it should be our Macedonian friends charting their country’s future, and not outsiders.”
Asked about Bob Woodward’s book Fear: Trump in the White House, in which Mattis figures prominently, Mattis declined any comment.
“This of all days, this is not a day I’m going to discuss politics,” he said referring to anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
