Haley: Russian Hands 'Covered in the Blood of Syrian Children'

U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley slammed Russia and Iran after a deadly suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria this weekend, and warned that the U.S. would respond, amid pressure from top lawmakers to counter Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and his supporters.

“I could hold up pictures of all of this killing and suffering for the council to see. But what would be the point? The monster who was responsible for these attacks has no conscience,” she said during an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. “The Russian regime, whose hands are all covered in the blood of Syrian children, cannot be ashamed by pictures of its victims. We’ve tried that before. We must not overlook Russia and Iran’s roles in enabling the Assad regime’s murderous destruction.”

Haley said she gave a similar address one year ago after Assad waged a chemical attack that left nearly 100 dead. Instead of showing photos, as she did last year, Haley described in detail the children who were victim to the attack, the hospitals struck by barrel bombs afterward and the ambulances that were also attacked.

She slammed Russia over its repeated vetoes at the Security Council that she said were meant to “save Assad:” 11 total.

“No civilized government would have anything to do with Assad’s murderous regime. Pictures of dead children mean little to governments like Russia, who expend their own resources to prop up Assad,” she said. “And this council, which saw these pictures last year, has failed to act, because Russia has stood in its way, every single time.”

But Haley warned that the U.S. will respond to the attack, no matter Russia’s objections, and that meetings on the subject are ongoing.

“Russia’s obstructionism will not continue to hold us hostage when we are confronted with an attack like this one,” she said. “The United States is determined to see the monster who dropped chemical weapons on the Syrian people held to account.”

Saturday’s attack in Douma, the last rebel-held stronghold in the area, left dozens dead and hundreds affected by “symptoms indicative of exposure to a chemical agent,” according to the Syrian-American Medical Society.

Haley’s remarks come as lawmakers pressure President Donald Trump to act on his threat of repercussions for the attack. In a tweet on Sunday, Trump called out Russia and Iran for backing Assad and warned that there would be a “ big price to pay.” Trump then said Monday that the administration will be “making some major decisions” on its response to the attack in the next day or two. “This is about humanity,” he said, “and it can’t be allowed to happen.”

Chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee John McCain on Sunday urged Trump to respond “decisively” to Assad’s chemical weapons attack, as he did one year ago. Trump authorized a missile strike against a Syrian airfield in April after the Assad regime killed nearly 100 people in a sarin gas attack.

“President Trump was quick to call out Assad today, along with the Russian and Iranian governments, on Twitter,” he said. “The question now is whether he will do anything about it.”

McCain also suggested Sunday that Trump’s repeated remarks in late March about withdrawing from Syria “very soon” had emboldened Assad.

“President Trump last week signaled to the world that the United States would prematurely withdraw from Syria,” he said. “Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers have heard him, and emboldened by American inaction, Assad has reportedly launched another chemical attack.”

Trump’s military commanders reportedly persuaded him not to withdraw immediately, saying more time is needed to finish the mission against the Islamic State (ISIS). The White House said in a statement Thursday that the military mission to destroy ISIS in Syria is “coming to a rapid end.”

House Armed Services Committee chairman Mac Thornberry said Sunday on Fox News that president should consider a limited military strike in Syria against the units responsible for the attack. On Monday, in an appearance on CNN, he cautioned against leaving Syria early.

“The notion that we would leave Syria was a mistake because we haven’t finished destroying ISIS, and because people like Iran and Russia see a vacuum created when the U.S. leaves into which they will run,” he said.