Warship ruse, new stealth missiles: How US, UK and France attacked Syria

President Donald Trump’s outrage over another apparent chemical weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was clear. And for the second time in his presidency, the US commander-in-chief demanded retaliation.

As images of sick or dying children flooded global media all week, the US guided-missile destroyer USS Winston Churchill churned toward the Mediterranean to join a flotilla of allied warships, including another US destroyer, the USS Donald Cook.

It was a ruse.

While both vessels carry as many as 90 Tomahawk missiles -- the main weapon used in the Friday evening strike on Syria -- neither ship, in the end, fired a shot. Instead, according to a person familiar with White House war planning, they were part of a plan to distract Russia and its Syrian ally from an assault Assad’s government could do little to defend itself against.