Sounds like this was a very targeted attack focused on facilities that develop and store chemical weapons that dealt a "severe blow" against Syria. No US (or other allied) casualties. Great job by the President and our military!!
While I was watching the Pentagon briefing by Gen. Dunford last night, a few things stood out.
1) We didn't strike some facilities, due to high risk of collateral damage.
2) A research facility was destroyed, resulting in lost equipment and data.
3) Valuable precursors and a command center were destroyed.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/video/pentagon-syria-strike-specifically-hit-targets-54461086First, the fact some facilities remained untouched means they still have stores, precursors, production, or a combination of the three. Also, while equipment may have been lost at the research facility, the entire WMD program can fit on a thumb drive in Assad's pocket. They lost nothing, data-wise. Besides, the specialized personnel are more valuable. Finally, many precursors have dual use properties. One of the aspects of Novichok was the fact it could be easily concealed among agricultural research and production, when the Soviets developed it. The command center is easily rebuilt. Competent command structure officers aren't as easily replaced.
There was about one year between the last two chemical attacks and subsequent US strikes. Everything hit last night is easily replaced within 12 months. From early reports, the execution was perfect. However, the true damage won't be that severe, especially without a loss of critical personnel by the Syrians. I suppose we can look forward to this as an annual springtime occurrence.