The Pentagon is describing the U.S.-led missile strikes against Syria as precise, overwhelming and effective. Phoenix-area Syrian-Americans we spoke to are happy to see the action, but they're wondering what's next.
The Pentagon says the strikes hit the heart of Syria's chemical weapons program, but according to Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, nothing has changed.
Dr. Jasser was born in America to Syrian parents. He spent 11 years in the US Navy and says the military strategist in him sees the air strikes as pin pricks to Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria.
"It's not much. Militarily, we didn't affect his power... A few missiles don't change what's happening in Syria. We need to start looking at a long term strategy." said Jasser. "You need to start looking at a long-term solution that has a Bosnian-type template."
Yisser Bittar is the director of development for the Karam Foundation, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian aide to Syria.
She has been to Syria several times in recent years and says the Syrian people have been waiting for action from the international community for seven years.
"We've seen not only chemical weapons, we've seen conventional weapons. We've seen napalm. We've seen phosphorus. We've seen scud missiles," Bittar said. "This has happened with absolute impunity. The Assad regime has been able to do it time and time again with no accountability, so to be able to see for once that there is a level of justice that was served -- it is welcomed, and it is welcomed by the majority of Syrians."
Both Bittar and Jasser agree this can't be a one-off strike.
Bittar urges Americans to contact local lawmakers and call for change.
"They're just calling to be able to not be gassed to death, and to not be bombed and they want to go to school, so any type of interaction you have with local representatives to call for that is key for us," Bittar said. "And any kind of donations you can make to organizations that are doing this life saving work on the ground, definitely welcome."