There is 'no doubt' Syria still has chemical weapons, Mattis says

Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Friday asserted Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime still has chemical weapons, though he did not present evidence for his claim.

"There can be no doubt in the international community's mind that Syria has retained chemical weapons in violation of its agreement and its statement that it had removed them all," Mattis said at a joint press conference with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. "The amount of it I don't want to get into it right now," he added. "We don't reveal some of that detail because we don't want to reveal how we're finding out."

Assad denies holding chemical weapons, and he has claimed the chemical attack in Syria earlier this month was faked. More than 80 people were killed by what is believed to be sarin gas, and President Trump authorized a 59-missile strike on Assad regime targets in response.

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For more on chemical weapons on Syria and how the U.S. should react, check out this analysis from David Faris at The Week.