White House Warns Of Chemical Attacks In Syria, Threatens 'Heavy Price'

WASHINGTON, DC — The White House reported it became aware of "potential preparations" for a chemical attack by Syria's Assad regime Monday night, and indicated that the United States would retaliate if such weapons are used.

The attack, the White House said, "would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children."

"The activities are similar to preparations the regime made before its April 4, 2017 chemical weapons attack," Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement. After those attacks, President Trump ordered airstrikes on a Syrian airfield. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"As we have previously stated, the United States is in Syria to eliminate the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria," the statement continued. "If, however, Mr. Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price."

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley tweeted: "Any further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Assad, but also on Russia & Iran who support him killing his own people."

According to BuzzFeed, five defense officials were surprised by the release of the White House statement. They said they did not know where the attacks might originate, and they had no forewarning that the White House would send out a statement Monday night.

The New York Times reported similar findings, writing: "Several military officials who were reached late Monday said they had been caught off guard by the White House statement, but it was unclear how closely held the intelligence regarding a potential chemical attack was."

Eventually, the White House was forced to respond to these reports Tuesday morning.

"In response to several inquiries regarding the Syria statement issued last night, we want to clarify that all relevant agencies--including State, DoD, CIA and ODNI--were involved in the process from the beginning," it said. "Anonymous leaks to the contrary are false."

Despite the statement's criticism of anonymous leaks, the official providing the statement insisted on only being referred to as a "White House official."

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