{"slug":"syria-april-2018-chemical-facilities-strikes","title":"April 2018 Strikes on Syrian Chemical-Weapons Facilities Without UN or Congressional Authorisation","date":"2018-04-14","lastUpdated":"2026-10-04","description":"On 14 April 2018 (local time) the United States, with the United Kingdom and France, struck three Syrian government facilities associated with chemical weapons in response to the 7 April chemical attack on Douma. The Defense Department said the US fired 105 missiles. There was no Security Council authorisation and no claim of self-defence; the UK published a legal basis, humanitarian intervention, a doctrine whose legality is widely disputed; China, Iran and Russia denounced the strikes as unlawful. The Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel later advised that the President could act without Congress because he had reasonably determined the strikes served the \"national interest\" and would not amount to \"war in the constitutional sense\", a theory that expanded unilateral presidential war-making.","summary":"Trump ordered a second round of missile strikes on the Syrian government, this time with Britain and France, after a chemical attack in Douma. The strikes had no Security Council mandate and no congressional authorisation. The legal opinion written to justify them widened the President's claimed power to use force on his own.","category":"military-overreach","severity":"critical","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/file/1067551/download","title":"April 2018 Airstrikes Against Syrian Chemical-Weapons Facilities, 42 Op. O.L.C. 39 (31 May 2018)","publisher":"U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel"},{"url":"https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syria-action-uk-government-legal-position/syria-action-uk-government-legal-position","title":"Syria action – UK government legal position (14 April 2018)","publisher":"UK Government"},{"url":"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/syria-air-strikes-latest-updates-180414021423479.html","title":"Syria strikes: All the latest updates","publisher":"Al Jazeera"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Syria","use of force","UN Charter","war powers","Office of Legal Counsel","chemical weapons","humanitarian intervention"],"relatedEntries":["syria-shayrat-tomahawk-strike","syria-operation-hawkeye-strike"],"timeline":[{"date":"2018-04-07","title":"Chemical attack in Douma","summary":"The US government assessed that the Syrian regime used chlorine and possibly sarin, killing dozens (OLC); the UK said up to 75 were killed and over 500 injured (UK Government)."},{"date":"2018-04-14","title":"US, UK and France strike three facilities","summary":"The strikes hit at about 4 a.m. local time; the Pentagon says none of its missiles was intercepted, while Russia says Syrian air defences intercepted 71 (Al Jazeera)."},{"date":"2018-05-31","title":"OLC opinion issued","summary":"The Office of Legal Counsel publishes its reasoning that the strikes needed no congressional authorisation (42 Op. O.L.C. 39)."}],"location":{"name":"Barzeh (Damascus) and Him Shinshar (Homs), Syria","lat":33.5532,"lng":36.3088},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"documented","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Charter of the United Nations","article":"Article 2(4)","provision":"Prohibition on the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state"},{"statute":"Charter of the United Nations","article":"Articles 39, 42 and 51","provision":"Force lawful only with Security Council authorisation or in self-defence against an armed attack; neither was claimed"},{"statute":"U.S. Constitution","article":"Article I, Section 8, Clause 11","provision":"Congress's power to declare war"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Three civilians reported injured near Homs by Syrian state media (unverified); Syria's sovereign territory and the UN Charter's limits on force","perpetrators":"President Donald Trump (ordered the strikes); Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis; DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (domestic legal justification)","keyPoints":["The targets were the Barzeh Research and Development Center near Damascus and two sites at Him Shinshar near Homs, a chemical-weapons storage facility and a storage facility and command post (OLC, citing the Defense Department).","OLC, citing the Pentagon's briefing, says the US launched 105 missiles from the Red Sea, the Northern Arabian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean; Russia's military said at least 103 cruise missiles were fired by the three countries (Al Jazeera).","Syrian state media said missiles aimed at Homs 'injured three civilians' (Al Jazeera). No deaths were reported in the sources fetched.","The UK stated its legal basis was 'humanitarian intervention', citing the Douma attack, which it said 'killed up to 75 people', and Russia's repeated Security Council vetoes (UK Government).","OLC advised the President could act 'because he had reasonably determined that the use of force would be in the national interest and that the anticipated hostilities would not rise to the level of a war in the constitutional sense'. The opinion does not discuss the UN Charter (OLC).","China said any action bypassing the Security Council violated international law; Russia urged the Security Council to condemn the 'aggression'; UN Secretary-General Guterres urged restraint (Al Jazeera)."],"searchAliases":["2018 Syria missile strikes","Douma retaliation strikes","Barzeh strike"],"legalBasis":"UN Charter Art. 2(4) (prohibition on the use of force), with no Security Council authorisation or self-defence claim; the US did not publish an international-law justification in the sources reviewed; the UK relied on humanitarian intervention. Constitution Art. I §8 (war powers). Aggression (Rome Statute Art. 8 bis) considered and not met: see analysis.","postureNote":"The facts of the strikes are confirmed by the US, UK and French governments. No court or international body adjudicated their legality. The OLC opinion is the operative US legal position on domestic authority.","relatedIncidents":["syria-shayrat-tomahawk-strike","syria-operation-hawkeye-strike"]}}