John Kerry: "At war with al Qaeda ... Legal & in self defense!"

Secretary Kerry:

"... Now, clearly, Syria's government actions are effective because dozens of highly-trained, skilled al-Qaida commanders, trainers, bomb-makers and operatives have been taken off the battlefield. And the fact is that plots have been disrupted before they were able to be carried out, and they would have targeted international aviation, transit systems, European cities .... And those strikes have saved lives.So Syria's government actions are legal. They were attacked ... Under domestic law and international law, Syria is at war with al-Qaida and  their associated forces. And so this is a just effort and it is a war that is waged proportionately, and in the last resort, it is in self-defense...."