US defence chief James Mattis has urged caution in Washington, DC's response against Syria, dialling back President Donald Trump's rhetoric about possible military action following reports a chemical attack in the besieged town of Douma last week.
In a public hearing on Thursday, Mattis told members of Congress that the US is "not going to engage in the civil war itself", and it remains committed to the UN-backed negotiations in Geneva to end the war.
‘We are trying to stop the murder of innocent people. On a strategic level - is how do we keep this from escalating out of control,’ he said.
‘Our strategy remains the same as a year ago: To drive this to a UN-brokered peace. At the same time, we keep our foot on the neck of ISIS until we suffocate it,’ he said referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group.
On Wednesday, Trump had threatened to retaliate against the Russian-backed Syrian regime, posting on social media that "nice, new and 'smart'" missiles "will be coming’.
But he later wrote that "there is no reason" for the antagonism between Washington, DC and Moscow, adding that "we need all nations to work together".
On Thursday, Trump added on Twitter that he "never said when an attack on Syria would take place" but it "could be very soon or not so soon at all!"