Chart Of The Day: A Dramatic Visual Of 3 Years Of U.S. Strikes In Syria

On April 14, 2018, starting around 4 am Syrian time, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom conducted a missile bombardment with bombers, fighter jets, and ship-based cruise missiles against government sites in Syria. The U.S.-led assault on Syria was in response to an alleged chemical attack against civilians in Douma on April 07, which the West condemned the Syrian government for such atrocities, without providing proper evidence to the international community.

While the latest round of U.S.-led attacks marked a rare direct military confrontation with the Syrian Armed Forces, the U.S., and its allies have carried out “more than 14,000 strikes inside Syria since January 2015,” said Axios.

As the infographic below explains, the vast majority of strikes targeting ‘terrorist’ have occurred under the Trump administration. In mid-2017, a fourfold increase in attacks was due to the coalition’s campaign to re-take Raqqa, said Axios.

Micah Zenko, a foreign policy and national security analyst, who worked at the State Department’s Office of Policy Planning, told Axios missile strikes in Yemen and Somalia have also surged since President Trump was inaugurated.

“Basically, Trump expanded U.S. military presence and/or airstrikes in every combat theater he inherited from Obama.”

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President Trump’s massive flip-flop on Syria, explained by the American Chopper meme: