Trump critic: Syria response handled ‘exactly right’

Former CIA Director John Brennan, a frequent critic of the Trump administration, said on Sunday that the response to Syria’s apparent use of chemical weapons was handled correctly.

“I tend to be a critic of this administration. But I think the way they handled this was exactly right,” Brennan, who served in the Obama administration, told “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd on NBC. “It was proportional and it was necessary in order to send that signal.”

The U.S., the U.K. and France launched missiles against three chemical weapons facilities in Syria on Friday in response to an alleged chemical weapon attack in a rebel-controlled suburb of Damascus that left more than 40 people dead.

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Brennan said the latest strike will set back the Syrian government’s program, but won’t prevent Syria from recreating their chemical weapons.

He noted that the Trump administration needs to “continue to put the pressure on the Assad regime, try to hit them when they use chemical weapons” while ensuring that the U.S. does not “get involved in another full-scale war in the Middle East.”

The strikes, which Brennan called a “tactical and surgical success,” will send a clear signal to the Syrian and Russian governments that they cannot carry out chemical attacks without a cost, he argued.