We won’t dive deeply into what is generally known: The United States has launched a military strike against Syria.

The burning question is, “What does this mean? What is going to happen next?”

Right now, Russia doesn’t know how to respond. They are surprised that the United States did anything. This is a major change from the previous US Administration. Russia is trying to figure out what to do that expresses strength, but does not unduly escalate things, especially in the light of not knowing how the US President will respond to their response.

Is Russia willing to go to the mat over Syria? How far is the United States willing to go if Russia takes action outside the current theatre?

At this time, we are holding at DEFCON 5. We continue to monitor, and are waiting to see what Russia will do.

Although Russia has stated that this represents and escalation, we do not believe that this will be more than a minor incident. We do believe Russia will do something, but may be more on the diplomatic front rather than militarily.

We do not believe there is any cause for undue public concern at this time.

We will continue to monitor and report as necessary throughout the night.