Washington, April 7 (RHC)-- U.S. warships fired a barrage of missiles into Syria Thursday evening, in the first direct U.S. assault on the Syrian government since the start of the civil war six years ago.

In Washington, the Pentagon announced that two naval destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air base in Homs province.  Syria’s government said the strikes killed at least nine people, and condemned the U.S. attack as an "act of aggression."

In a short address from the Trump Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Palm Beach, Florida, President Donald Trump claimed that the assault was retribution for an alleged Syrian chemical weapons attack earlier this week.

The attacks came without a declaration of war or any other form of authorization from Congress.  California Democratic Congressmember Barbara Lee tweeted: "This is an act of war.  Congress needs to come back into session and hold a debate.  Anything less is an abdication of our responsibility."