refugees themselves. you are right, as a result of what has been taking place in syria over the last few years, seven years or so, we have seen a large number of people displaced within syria and obviously a large number of refugees from syria displaced to countries in the region and further afield. of course we have been receiving a number of syrian refugees in the uk ourselves. our focus has been on support for refugees in the region with considerable support to countries that have been providing refuge for them. obviously the lebanon, jordan and turkey have been providing a refuge for them. the purpose of this action is to prevent further humanitarian suffering. nobody could have been anything but appalled at the scenes we have seen from the actions that took place. it is right that the
united states in syria in the wake of a chemical weapons attack. look, the president thought syria crossed a red line last year. they clearly did not get the message, so it was significant for this president to launch an attack that sent a message to try to dissuade assad from ever doing this again. that is why it was important for this administration to get the support of allies. the britains, the uk and the french. he s been coordinating with them throughout the week. it s important to note, brian, there s been a very robust debate about how forceful this strike would be. president trump was pressing for a very aggressive response and defense secretary, james mattis was concerned it could embroil the u.s. in a broader engagement with iran and russia. worth noting, the president had firm words for iran and russia,
analysis of incidents, we judge it highly likely they have continued to use chemical weapons since then and will continue to do so. this must be stopped. we have sought to do so using every possible diplomatic channel. our efforts have been thwarted on the ground and the united nations. back in august, 2013, the syrian regime committed to dismantle the chemical weapon program and russia promised to ensure that syria did this, overseen by the organization of prohibition of chemical weapons. these conditions have not been met. a recent report from the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons said that syria s declaration of the former weapons program is incomplete. this indicates it continues to retain undeclared stocks of
yes. prime minister, was on the way of going to duma today, why not wait one or two days to get formal approval for the reproaches that have been used of chemical weapons especially since the russians are carefully framing that there are no proof and great britain is lying? first of all, we have made every effort over the past week to assess what happened on the ground. we have, as i indicated in my statement, i have given a number of examples of the factors present that led us to believe not that this was a chemical weapons attack, but an attack at the hands of the syrian regime. this is not the only attack that has taken place. the reason for our action isn t simply about what happened in duma, it s the wider use. they have, on four previous
partners and allies. now, the last one i will take is from dave. in light of the benefit of hindsight, do you feel what s happened the last five years demonstrated the vote in 2013 to take no action proves that no action, taking no action in the cases can be as devastating as going in? obviously, i was a member of government in 2013, i voted to take action in 2013. i believe when the government put that to parliament, we did it because we felt it was the right thing to do. there were commitments by the syrian regime to destroy their chemical weapons and russia guaranteeing that was taking place. that has not happened. i think it is right now that we have sent that clear message by taking this military action. thank you. we have been listening to