The Russians were told in advance of the strike. Is there much doubt that they passed that little nugget along to Assad ahead of the TLAM attack?
This strike was more a token gesture than anything else.
http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/why...sel-1794113103
The runways are probably already up and running again. Only about 6 aircraft were destroyed by the strike, and most of those were unarmed utility aircraft.
We had to do something, I guess, but this was mostly for show. Only time will tell if it has discouraged Assad from using chemical weapons against his own people. I hope it has, but I fear it has not.
The Iran angle is interesting, though. Apparently the recently ousted S. Bannon is a big proponent of going to war with Iran.