After the fact, it appears the purpose of the missile attack was to support the drawing of a "red line" when it came to Syria's use of chemical weapons. A couple of warehouses and a research facility were hit, according to most news reports I've seen, not much in the way of making a dent in the ability of Assad to use chemical weapons. Coupled with tough talk about sanctioning the Russians, I'd say the attack really did nothing except distract the media from all of the scandals and investigations going on in the swamp Trump has created in Washington. Had it not been for the involvement of the British and French, I might think that was all there was to it.
Syria has been bombed to smithereens all through this civil war, a hundred missiles on a couple of desert warehouses and a research lab in the side of a hill aren't going to make much of a bang. It's going to take genuine diplomacy, not missiles, to end the violence in Syria, and that means a major change in the way both the US and Russia are approaching their own "national interests" in the middle east.
Apparently, though, we have a much better way of scaring Assad in to submission, and that is the ability for the Vice President to be in two places at the same time. According to the descriptions of a photograph shown by White House Press Secretary Sarah Pinnochio, Pence was with Trump during the missile attack, while he was also delivering a speech in Peru.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics ... spartandhp