As Twitchy reported, the Tomahawk missile strike launched against a Syrian airbase Thursday night left the runways intact, with Reuters reporting that Syrian warplanes were sighted taking off from the base not that long after it was hit.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, however, said the mission was a success, and that it was the base’s aircraft and refueling capability that were targeted, not the runways.
Shots of Syrian jets taking off again at Shayrat airbase after US strike. Middle finger to US. (@AP) pic.twitter.com/WuoNbrhgoD
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) April 8, 2017
After being lauded for reminding Syria in no uncertain terms that the red line drawn by Barack Obama was to be taken seriously again, President Donald Trump did what he tends to do: he handed his critics ammunition by tweeting about the strike and explaining why the runways were not the target, giving the press and pundits a chance to do their Monday morning quarterbacking on Saturday.
The reason you don't generally hit runways is that they are easy and inexpensive to quickly fix (fill in and top)!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2017
Defending against criticism aircraft can still land at Syrian airfield he targeted Thurs. His sec of state said runways were not a target. https://t.co/xRLMudY6YL
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 8, 2017
Clearly watching pundits in TV or reading bloggers on the web and most fascinating: POTUS feels the need to respond. https://t.co/9qlrzrBhKa
— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) April 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/kimoco/status/850788169767305216
https://twitter.com/bdylan234/status/850788735935549440
Suddenly every blue checkmark on Twitter was an expert strategist, although not every response was a knee-jerk reaction.
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) April 8, 2017
This @realdonaldtrump tweet is stupid. Runways are not easy to fix. You make it hard for your opponent to recover. #ByeFelicia https://t.co/Oz12ndLLVC
— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) April 8, 2017
Well, don't you sound like the expert in war and missile strategy. Did you ask Jeeves?
— Mike P Williams ? (@Mike_P_Williams) April 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/EdwardTHardy/status/850786340304244737
That's the best excuse you got? You completely missed the runway & hit nonoperational planes after warning Russia of your "attack"
— William LeGate (@williamlegate) April 8, 2017
are you offering construction services to Assad with this tweet???
— Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) April 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/jules_su/status/850785722260832256
https://twitter.com/jules_su/status/850785893468086272
JFC. Now you're a bomb damage assessment specialist? ?
— Joe Papp (@joepabike) April 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/AndrewChamings/status/850785851223064580
https://twitter.com/crehage/status/850790551041560577
https://twitter.com/crehage/status/850792215857295362
https://twitter.com/crehage/status/850792739067265024
Gonna need some more Trumpsplainin'. You didn't take the runways out, they can still launch attacks from the base, so what did you achieve?
— Tom Bonier (@tbonier) April 8, 2017
? Increased or guaranteed revenue for the d.c. providing the munitions POTUS ordered expended?
(He probably owns shares in @Raytheon ?)
— Joe Papp (@joepabike) April 8, 2017
This is an honest question: why are you lauding the military response, then admitting it was at best symbolic?
— Alex Zalben (@azalben) April 8, 2017
You CLAIM everything to be EASY, yet you continue to FAIL on a daily basis.
— Tommy Campbell (@MrTommyCampbell) April 8, 2017
Do you plan on apologizing to President Obama for the endless warnings about not attacking Syria when he faced similar circumstances?
— MatthewDicks (@MatthewDicks) April 8, 2017
Yeah, no.
https://twitter.com/EmmaKennedy/status/850785466886606848
maybe you didn't hit them because you are a little bitch
— do not look at me or talk to me or smell me (@ChrisCaesar) April 8, 2017
You should use that knowledge to repair America's crumbling infrastructure.
— Mark Pygas (@MarkPygas) April 8, 2017
All of those crumbling bridges that were too dangerous to cross? That was all taken care of years ago through 2009’s Recovery Act, remember? That $800 billion+ must have gone somewhere.
Perhaps more important, best munitions to crater runways are delivered not by missiles but by bombers, putting pilots at risk. https://t.co/5dCbL7fkN0
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) April 8, 2017
Maybe if airfield was taken out it would have at least delayed Syria bombing its own people 24 hrs after air strikes.
— Jose Rodriguez (@realjoserodr) April 8, 2017
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) April 8, 2017
tru dat, why waste a tomahawk on something that can be repaired in as few hours. he's right
— Taco_Jay (@joshuafsmith081) April 8, 2017
The goal was to disable facilities, not to mass kill Syrian troops, in order to send a strong message. Please keep up!
— Chris Bernal (@ChrisBernal1) April 8, 2017
Correct. Much, MUCH harder for Assad to replace those 20 planes, the buildings, the chem weapons, etc. than to repair a runway.
— Happy Thanksgiving & Epstein Didn't Kill Himself (@drawandstrike) April 8, 2017
Throw in the destroyed hangars, the loss of the chemical weapons, $90 million worth of Tomahawks inflicted well over $1 billion of damage.
— Happy Thanksgiving & Epstein Didn't Kill Himself (@drawandstrike) April 8, 2017
What I thought best about the Syria strikes is that they were extremely limited.
Following advice of generals who don't want war.
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) April 8, 2017
Also interesting is that Trump and the NSC reportedly rejected a more expansive option. https://t.co/oPKpkNQ01F
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) April 8, 2017
… and the option to follow precedent and do nothing.
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Related:
'DERANGED': Lawrence O'Donnell has a theory on who's really behind the Syria gas attack and why https://t.co/ypOayJl9Lv
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 7, 2017