Last night Donald Trump ordered an attack on Syria. In less than 100 days, Trump has taken more action against Assad than obama did in eight years. The attack was appropriate, measured and proportional. It sent a message.
To Assad and to North Korea.
Trump did not have to set a red line and then walk away from it.
President Obama’s decision to hold off on military action against the Assad regime after signaling that it was on the cards in response to last summer’s chemical weapons attack made the U.S. “appear weak,” former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden said on Thursday.
“My raw emotion, watching it from the outside, was just embarrassment,” he said.
“Sometimes the certainty of an action is far more powerful than the severity of an action,” Hayden told the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ annual forum in Washington.
“We’ve made everything uncertain, which actually makes you appear weak at some times, but also then demands that when you want to appear strong, you may have to be overly severe to overcome the uncertainty. It’s just bad all around.”
It seems the evidence was slam dunk. I watched retired Four Star general Jack Keane say we had military personnel on the ground who witnessed the aircraft drop the bomb and that we have radar tracking that traced the aircraft departure from and return to this targeted airfield. This is largely confirmed here.
Syrian fixed-wing aircraft dropped chemical weapons on civilians in Idlib earlier this week, two U.S. military officials told NBC News.
The U.S. military saw the aircraft on a radar and watched them drop the bombs, the officials said. The radar soon picked up the flashes and booms in the rebel-held area of Syria.
And from the NY Times
Witnesses described how Tuesday’s attack unfolded. That morning, a network of observers was, as usual, tracking the skies to warn residents and rescuers of possible airstrikes. They spotted Syrian aircraft and sent out warnings on walkie-talkies.
Syrian Su-22 aircraft were then seen circling above Khan Sheikhoun at 6:47 a.m. and again at 6:51 a.m. One of the observers — based on long experience — believed that the planes might be carrying a chemical payload.
“Guys, tell people to wear masks,” he warned.
It remains intriguing that Syria was able to mount a chemical weapon attack as both John Kerry and barack obama assured us that all chemical weapons had been removed from Syria.
Earlier in the day Secretary of State Tillerson hinted at this:
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday that “steps are underway” on an international coalition to pressure Bashar Assad from power, as President Trump was being briefed on military options for Syria – though what specific steps the U.S. and its allies might take in response to the latest deadly chemical weapons attack remained unclear.
America’s top diplomat addressed the Syria crisis a day after Trump declared in the Rose Garden that the chemical strike would not be tolerated. Tillerson pointedly said Russia should “consider carefully” its support for the Assad regime, while calling for an international effort to defeat ISIS in Syria, stabilize the country and ultimately work with partners through a political process that leads to Assad leaving power.
Asked if the U.S. would organize a coalition to remove Assad, Tillerson said: “Those steps are underway.”
One wonders where the chemical agents originated. It was suggested that Saddam moved his WMD’s to Syria– by Obama DNI James Clapper:
WASHINGTON — The director of a top U.S. spy agency said Tuesday that he believes that material from Iraq’s illicit weapons program had been transported into Syria and perhaps other countries as part of an effort by the Iraqis to disperse and destroy evidence immediately before the recent war.
The official, James Clapper Jr., a retired lieutenant general, said satellite imagery showing a heavy flow of traffic from Iraq into Syria, just before the U.S. invasion in March, led him to believe that illicit weapons material “unquestionably” had been moved out of Iraq.
“I think people below the Saddam-Hussein-and-his-sons level saw what was coming and decided the best thing to do was to destroy and disperse,” Clapper, who leads the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, said at a breakfast with reporters.
He said he was providing a personal assessment. But he said “the obvious conclusion one draws” was that there “may have been people leaving the scene, fleeing Iraq, and unquestionably, I am sure, material.”
A spokesman for Clapper’s agency, David Burpee, said he could not provide further evidence to support the general’s statement.
Other U.S. intelligence officials said Clapper’s theory is among those being pursued in Iraq by David Kay, a former UN weapons inspector who is leading the U.S. effort to uncover the weapons cited by the Bush administration as the major reason for going to war against Iraq.
Clapper’s comments came as the CIA prepared to defend its prewar assertions that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons and that it sought to reconstitute its nuclear program. The director of central intelligence, George Tenet, has written a letter to the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence saying the agency will be ready to provide an assessment by late November.
In the letter, the contents of which were described by several intelligence officials on Tuesday, Tenet proposed that a team headed by John McLaughlin, the deputy director of central intelligence, provide a briefing for the committee after Nov. 20, when the agency’s internal review is expected to be completed.
Clapper’s agency is responsible for interpreting satellite photographs and other imagery.
Especially as the sarin gas precursors were taken from Syria.
The Trump administration’s apparent acceptance of the Syrian regime may well have been another Trump ruse to inspire Assad to commit an act which necessitated a response.
An unhappy Russia has responded:
“President [Vladimir] Putin regards the US attacks on Syria as an aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law, and under a trumped-up pretext at that,” Pesov told reporters.
Fox News just reported that Russia has also shut down the “deconfliction channel.”
If nothing else, this should put down once and for all the idiotic Trump-Russian collusion meme. There is a new sheriff in town.
Update:
For our liberal friends, Trump’s new theme song
See author page
If I’m not mistaken dr john, you incredibly prejudiced hack and profound hypocrite and cowardly tuck-tail-and-run cherry picker, you and your so-called conservative ilk opposed Obama attacking Syria.
Did you not?
As a matter of fact, donald trump himself denounced Obama taking action when over 1400 were gassed in 2013 by saying: “What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict? Obama needs Congressional approval.” Well, the very same Republican leaders who demanded Obama seek approval and then denied his request are now spewing bible quotes and sucking trump butt.
Actually, had hate infested folks like trump and the hyper-partisan GOP had not put politics over policy, had not obstructed reasonable and productive solutions simply because of political games, Obama could have attacked as he wanted to and innocent lives could have been saved today.
If anything those recently gassed were murdered by this very’s country’s bigoted Republican leaders.
@Ajay42302: Exactly
Dr. J is late to this party as he was to the removal of Gadaffi.–death to tyrants. Assad must go.
Kudo’s to Trump–the videos changed his heart and mind overnight.
I hope there are other areas he can change—like protection of the environment
Anxious to see if this fuels more speculation of Trump alerting his “buddy”. Liberals ARE that stupid.
I guess Trump didn’t get James Taylor’s phone number from Kerry.
My complaint is that the UN never takes a position in these matters and that leaves the US exposed to condemnation. Most certainly Assad should be stopped and most likely it will fall on the US to do it, but the least the UN could do is bless the effort and censure anyone that opposes it.
Yeah, Trump sent numerous distinct and important messages with this strike. He was having dinner with Xi when he pulled the trigger on this. This should tell them that if the value their little Korean friend, they better teach him som manners before he gets spanked. It warns Iran they better change THEIR tune as well.
But best of all was warning the Russians; that’s like Ruth pointing at the center field fence with his bat, then crushing one.
There IS a new sheriff in town.
@Bill: Do you still feel the videos and the killing of civilians were carried out by the rebels rather than the Assad regime?
A sheriff with a heart and a moral compass we hope.
Semper Fi—put Assad in a ditch.
Wait for liberals,moonbat’s and snowflakes to be calling him a War Monger wait for them to demand Trump be prosicuted as a war crinimal and wait for Hanoi Jane to reattach the wheels to her peace bus and drive it to Washington D.C. loaded with her fellow moonbat’s,snowflakes and liberal pansies
Personally, my view is that the whole thing was orchestrated, by whomever (lots of interested parties) to get the US to jump into the fray……could also have been orchestrated to see if Trump would respond to provocation (which never should have been in doubt)….
I don’t for one minute believe that Syria set this off deliberately….Assad, for whatever lacking, is not a stupid man…..it is obvious that the result of the chemicals did exactly the opposite of what Assad or Russia would want….
And we all know the penchant for the ‘rebels’ setting up near civilian units as a defense so they can cry over the resultant ‘atrocities’…..
Trump targeted a military airfield, though and it does send a huge message, not only to the Middle East but to North Korea…..
It also throws right out the door the US policy of appeasement, apologizing, kowtowing, and genuflecting to the rest of the world for the past eight years…..
I have heard it reported that this is the reason Bannon was replaced on the National Security Council because he wanted nothing to do with this and that the US and Russia actually colluded on this as a prelude to removing Assad…but thats the usual conspiracy theories……
Bottom line, less than 100 days in, Trump has tossed off the yoke that Zero had on the US with regards to force, and it is likely all our allies are breathing a bit easier today…..
@Rich Wheeler:
Oh dear.
We’d have been better off leaving Gaddafi alone than we are now. ISIS could not have expanded into Libya without aid from obama. He overthrew a country without Congressional approval and had no plans for the aftermath. Gaddafi was no supporter of ISIS or Al Qaida. Conversely, obama’s pals in Iran are big supporters and sponsors of terrorism in the Middle East.
Now Libya’s a freaking mess.
Trump has not taken out Assad and I do not anticipate that happening any time soon. Trump also has sent boots to help wipe out ISIS- a necessity obama ducked- and the reality is that that should happen before Assad goes down and there needs to be plans for what happens after that.
Please share this with your obstreperous colleague.
@Rich Wheeler:
I wish I could share your optimism that trump had some change of heart but I just can’t buy that. He’s a serial liar, racist, proclaimed sexual assaulter who has spent his entire life as a con man, even admitting that conning and scamming productive workers out of their rightful pay is “good business”. There’s just no way I can believe he has a change of heart when he’s created so much suffering on people his entire life for his own personal gain.
And not only does history dictate that he is in fact an abject liar with no regard to the well being humans or any form of compassion, this very incident is just another example.
As mentioned, he wouldn’t back up a strike under Obama when over 1400 were killed yet now all of a sudden goes for it with a justification that “No child of God should ever suffer such horror.” Yet, he has already stated that he intends to step up his ban game-in other words, the hell with orphans and homeless that resulted from his go-alone result of the strike. He still wants to turn away the very refugees that he created. The hell with these babies, let em suffer in horror until the fish eats them. It’s just impossible to have that both ways. This is just another obvious lying scam from an obvious lying shyster.
And he either lied when he denounced Obama’s intent to bomb or he’s lying now. Again, which is it?
If anything, he saw this as a good opportunity to step up his Muslim ban game. But as we’ve learned before, Republicans don’t seem to have a problem using our valuable resources and men and women to pursue their personal interests.
Should we learn a lesson from Lybia?
I think we should.
We saw Ghaddaffi “go,” as previous posters put it, and then what happened?
A power vacuum that allowed various terror groups to hold territories.
Assad is going to go soon.
Should we have chips on the table as to who takes over next, or not?
Iran has chips in.
Russia has chips in.
Turkey even has chips in.
If we don’t stay involved from now until after Assad goes, we will have no say as to what the place looks like down the road.
Just because we took out an airfield of Assad’s over chemical weapons does NOT mean we won’t take out other groups over their terrorism later.
Syria has an al Qaeda presence, an al Nusra presence, an ISIS presence, a Qod presence (Iranian Republican Guard) possibly a Hezb’allah presence, too.
They are not off the hook.
Even if some of their leaders think meeting with McCain makes them so.
Was a regular on Flopping Aces some years ago, back when Skye, Scott, Mataharley, and CrisG were part of the guard…….just now getting some legs again and seeing who is on the board now……..in fact, can’t even remember how to structure a outside post for comments, but no matter…….
Let me say that I rarely saw this type of invective from those on the Left back then, guess it’s an evolving thing for them…..where do they go from here?
There are pros and cons for Trumps decision to bomb that airfield….I support his decision……especially making it a military target, and an airfield at that….of course, he received advice all around and made a very intelligent decision….
The Left, loves to crow about what they believe are Trumps “Lies”…constantly regaling us with those ‘lies’ and how Trump has done Nothing towards keeping his campaign promises (although less than a month and a half into his term)…..well, he IS working at keeping them, especially with this action……and as usually, “None are so blind that they refuse to see”……mom’s also were deemed to lecture their sons to “Quit playing with that thing! You’ll go blind!”….any relationship here regards our Leftist friends here?? 🙂
Bottom line: we have repeatedly warned against the existence or use of chemical weapons in the Middle east….anywhere in the Middle East….we were assured by the previous administration that they had been eradicated, but have since found out that that was a lie….the most basic message this strike sends, among others, is that “If you have chemical weapons, declare them for others to remove, or get rid of them yourself, for if they are triggered, regardless of who does the triggering, we will hold the regime accountable.”
DR J Pls don’t forget it was the same crazies on here who said the rebels–rather than ASSAD were gassing the civilians back in 2013–who now say again it’s the rebels. The same people who said then, and repeated last week–“Syria and Assad not our concern.”
Hell Tillerson and Trump were saying to leave Assad alone as recently as last week.
Trump had an “overnight conversion.” There is hope for him.
ESD Welcome back—The voices of Mata and Aye Chi–badly missed.
@DrJohn:
That is spot on, though as usual, a convenient amnesia from our friends on the Left.
The same goes for Assad, at least he’s a known devil.
Same happened with the Shah of Iran………every ruling persona that has been taken out in the Middle East in the guise of ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ (heavens!) has been replaced with something much, much worse……..
Iraq was supposed to be ‘liberated’ look at Mosul…..no wonder the entire population of Iraq are basically refugees……
@Rich Wheeler:
Appreciate that.
Thats a point, but remember that Trump stated that “the world community has failed to address this” (civil war in Syria)…..and that is the truth…..it is impossible to be neutral for any length of time in the Middle East, regardless of where Trump was a week ago….
Look, bottom line is Trump is NOT a politician, at least a seasoned belt-line politician….he has made errors since taking office, but he has moved to correct those errors quickly……Flynn, Bannon, et al….let the man evolve, he is even making further changes and demotions as he sees fit in his administration……
While the Left is attempting to make hay of this connived Russia thing, Trump is laughing and moving right along…….
I certainly did not vote for that Zero, but I never threw out a stream of invective at him, nor did I start condemning every move he made from the moment he took the oath…..everyone was willing to give him a chance, but that completely partisan O roundly smashed that ‘hope’ soon thereafter……..
Ghaddaffi was put into power by CIA
Assad will go away when it is politically correct
airbase was warned 8 hrs ahead of the attack
do not kink for one moment that Trump and Putin did not discuss this issue prior to the attack
@MOS #8541:
Have not seen a single report that states the warning was more than 30 minutes but if you have a link will be happy to read it…..
Also would be happy to read any link that actually substantiates that Trump talked to Putin prior to the attack…….the communications were solely through military channels as is the norm, but if you can substantiate differently, rather than conjecturely, feel free to post a link..
Message to the libs with Bush Derangement Syndrome:
We found the Iraqi chemical weapons that were said to have been moved to Syria
The Syrians used them as we didnt finish that work, and created the outcome in the power vacume that came when we could not finish the one country buffer zone between russia/china and the middle east/africa…
[how do you think all that semtec, kalsnikovs, hand grenades, and all that get to the markets and destabilize a country that would displace russia as a huge natural resource producer as russia still does not make much of anything the world wants due to lack of quality, and other issues]
Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, would have made a country wide wall to stop arms if only the last hole Iran was closed up, but the Dems decided we LIKE dead citizens as leftists from the french revolution, russian revolution, maos revolution did muich the same…
@Ajay42302: and the same can be said for impinging the war that would have captured those weapons before they were transferred to syria and you guys blamed bush that there were none..
twp days ago, liberal press:
Obama Was Right to Abandon ‘Red Line’ on Syria’s Chemical Weapons
Donald Trump is blaming his predecessor for the atrocities in Syria but the President was right when he backed Obama’s positon at the time. Can Trump do a new deal to stop the killing?
and Russia said they were all gone, just as they had 8 peace treaties with latvia recently signed before they annexed it and shipped people off to the camps, or their starting world war II with hitler with the secret moltov pact and then changed sides when their own people betrayed them before they could betray them. and they were without any help, then there was that overthrow coupe in indonesia where the chinese stepped in to take it from russia and failed to kill all the generals, then there is that perpetual war concept on all fronts by trotsky, the 70 million of their own murdered, the 9 million intentionally starved to death as a punishment in holodomar, the 300 journalists assasinated in recent times, the agecny called Kamera that makes special poisons that were used to kill people in the US And UK going back decades and continue past Litvenenko using liquid that can only come from a nuclear reactor…
yeah… you know the side your on.. not much
did you know that they tested agents on whole famliies and took notes?
that they tortured people regularly as a means to an end
that they claimed aids was made in US labs to hide their escaped weaponized anthrax that somehow got to the US and was easily identified given some ingredients. the anthrax they developed ended up causing a 50 mile plume of death from a draft that took it up a chiminey… from that they did a campaign and used aids fakery to hide their stuff and pretend the US is on equal footing, which we werent as we stopped our programs other than cure research as mitigation.
but they were clocking on trying to mate polio with marbug virus.. .wow
it was the liberal george banard shaw that said we should make gas chambers for people, and that they should have to justify their existence… sarin was made by germany for that purpose to fulfill marx and engels (marx jewish question, engels maggyar struggle calling for a holocaust to get rid of these hide bound people that ruin the people)
you have no idea…
@esdraelon: I grew up with Trump. My father was his father’s attorney–Little Donald may have visited my house with Fred.
That being said as an old JFK Irish Catholic kid I’ve never liked the Donald. As a Marine Officer that fought in V.N I’ve questioned his—“can’t remember which foot it was” pass–not to mention his McCain diss.
Evolve?–yes maybe it’s finally begun–I sure hope so. Thanks for your studied input..
Goldberg’s conclusion was equivocal: “History may record Aug. 30, 2013, as the day Obama prevented the U.S. from entering yet another disastrous Muslim civil war, and the day he removed the threat of a chemical attack on Israel, Turkey, or Jordan. Or it could be remembered as the day he let the Middle East slip from America’s grasp, into the hands of Russia, Iran, and ISIS.”
given that they gassed people, the first is impossible
and given that russia is with that, the second was untrue
now, we have the same old potential or russia and US on same field
like afghanistan, israel, etc
Oh, really?
Did Trump reduce Syria’s known chemical stockpiles by over 90 percent, removing an internationally verified 1,000 tons of chemical weapons out of the country for systematic destruction? I didn’t realize that.
I also didn’t realize that Trump had organized an international coalition supported by U.S. military forces and air power that has killed over 10,000 ISIS fighters, retaken over 1/4 of all ISIS-controlled territory in Syria, retaken key ISIS-controlled cities, and annihilated much of their high-level leadership structure.
Of course it did take Obama over 2 years, and was never authorized or acknowledged by republicans, which means it doesn’t actually count for anything.
It’s amazing that Trump has somehow done more than Obama overnight, simply by blowing up some airport runways. I don’t know why Obama never saw how easy it could be.
As it happened, that same day, Aug. 30, 2013, I wrote an open letter to Obama in The Daily Beast, making the case that Syria was “not our war.” Only on Tuesday night did I discover Donald Trump was tweeting the same line at the same time—something he now seems to have forgotten.
yeah, but when he tweeted the first time, he was a citizen with the limited information that the state was giving us and the games in the press
now he is the president with information no one else on the planet is allowed to look at and discuss without great difficulty and trust…
note that also, obama knew, and didnt under this
when trump didnt know, and thought it was bad
now obama still knows
trump knows
and we got reaction to it
the other major difference is: THEY USED THEM ON HIS WATCH
In the years since, I have grown weary of the taken-for-granted truism that Obama failed on the chemical-weapons front in Syria. It betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the impact such nerve agents can have. I covered the effects of chemical war in Iraq in the 1980s and early 1990s, and I know that as horrific as the scenes in Syria have been, they pale by comparison to what Saddam Hussein was doing back then in tacit alliance with the United States and its Gulf Arab allies.
but thats a case of when my guy is an asshole i like it
when your guy does whats right, we have to make him the asshole
and what does reletvism of the incident have to do with it?
i guess he forgot
Did Syria Receive Its Chemical Weapons from Saddam?
Syria’s admission Monday that it has chemical weapons has revived a counter-theory to one of the biggest intelligence failures in American history: The non-existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
[they certainly didnt have the connections, the labs and the expertise did they?]
The New York Times Rediscovers Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
https://spectator.org/60689_new-york-times-rediscovers-weapons-mass-destruction-iraq/
remember? they showed up and you guys still got wacko as usual on it with derangement syndrome,.. well i guess your people lied to you as they always do with the public when dishing out SPRAVKA that is really disinforamtzia…
Ny times 2006
the Atlantic 2012
the daily beast a few days ago 04/05/2017
If Assad had been able to keep his up-until-2013-undeclared arsenal, he could have waged a campaign similar to Saddam’s, which included the gassing in 1988 of the largely Kurdish city of Halabja, where as many as 5,000 people are believed to have died.
[snip]
As bad as it was, the Obama-Putin deal in 2013 prevented Assad from stampeding his opposition in that way. And it’s clear Assad wished he still had such resources, which is why he has improvised many chemical attacks with the much cruder and less effective industrial chlorine gas. [no, he didnt want to reveal the better more secret weapon – artfldgr]
He now appears to have dipped into a hidden supply of nerve agents, or acquired some from outside (from, say North Korea, which uses VX as an assassin’s tool, and which previously helped him try to develop nuclear weapons). [sorry, it was sarin not vs – artfldgr]
It would not be surprising if Assad uses these agents. He is out to end this war, at least in the west of the country, and whatever the uproar, he can expect his potential victims to live in terror, now, as they never have before.
[snip]
Who can stop him? Once again, it will almost certainly have to be the Russians. We’ll see if Trump can cut a deal with Putin as good as the one Obama got.
but then he USED THEM
and it turns out its not north korean VX
its good old Sarin from where?
oh yeah… the supply that the left still thinks never existed unless they need them to exist and then gone, and then less, and then more, then nothing, then its ok, russia says so,then there are dead gassed people, and tomahawks and the dems want to always point the finger…
@Rich Wheeler: @Ajay42302: Exactly
Dr. J is late to this party as he was to the removal of Gadaffi.–death to tyrants. Assad must go. // Kudo’s to Trump–the videos changed his heart and mind overnight. // I hope there are other areas he can change—like protection of the environment
yes, but he ALSO insured that he would have traction with the Chinese over Korea, and over the paracels and over the senkaku islands that belong to japan.
@Bill: My complaint is that the UN never takes a position in these matters and that leaves the US exposed to condemnation. Most certainly Assad should be stopped and most likely it will fall on the US to do it, but the least the UN could do is bless the effort and censure anyone that opposes it.
then maybe the libs giving them the ability to negate votes unilaterally was a bad idea? it meant that no action could go against their interests ever.
The United Nations Security Council “power of veto” refers to the veto power wielded solely by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States), enabling them to prevent the adoption of any “substantive” resolution
and in terms of this conflict now and your point:
@Esdraelon: I don’t for one minute believe that Syria set this off deliberately….Assad, for whatever lacking, is not a stupid man…..it is obvious that the result of the chemicals did exactly the opposite of what Assad or Russia would want…
oh, so you know the russians well..
are you russian? been part of their slave state?
think your better than churchill
I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia.
It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma; – 1939 The Russian Enigma
Broadcast 1st October 1939
On 22 August, one day after the talks broke down with France and Britain, Moscow revealed that Ribbentrop would visit Stalin the next day. This happened while the Soviets were still negotiating with the British and French missions in Moscow. With the Western nations unwilling to accede to Soviet demands, Stalin instead entered a secret Nazi–Soviet pact.[82] On 24 August a 10-year non-aggression pact was signedThe Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, also known as the Nazi–Soviet Pact or the German–Soviet Non-aggression Pact (officially: Treaty of Non-aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), was a neutrality pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by foreign ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vyacheslav Molotov
however if you read the long letter you might get a clue
also read nechyeves chatechism of the revolutionary
@Greg:
Yeah, that was really effective.
@Rich Wheeler:
Who next? Putin? Kim Jong Un? Xi?
All at once, perhaps?
Russia suspends agreement preventing direct conflict with U.S. forces
I’m not sure if this is mostly a gesture, or if it will significantly increase the likelihood of accidental encounters that could rapidly escalate into open hostility.
@DrJohn: Their loss would be the world’s gain.
Putin—poison
Kim Jong Un–gas
Xi–pollution–damn he’s got a beautiful wife.
@Artfldgr:
Last I checked it is 2017, not 1939, and let us not forget we are permeating our own opinions on these posts. It is a known fact that Assad is not a stupid man. Putin may be old-style KGB, however, one also does not get where he is by being a moron, nor is he Josef Stalin, and Churchill is long gone.
You have to admit that the flip side of the episode of the gas is exactly what the Neoconservatives and chicken-hawks have been screaming for and it played right into their dreams: the US jumped into the fray, though i believe it is a temporary jump.
The next few days will tell, and until then, I stand completely by what I posted.
@Greg:
Gesture….save face…….
@Ajay42302:
I opposed that and I oppose this, the way it was done. I think this should have been a UN mission, even if the US carries it out. But, the UN is worthless and corrupt, more interested in serving Islamic interests in denouncing Israel and promoting the climate scam than maintaining world peace. BUT, sooner or later, a message was to be sent that the US is BACK and we do not worry about the political fortunes of one person before we worry about national security.
Obama didn’t take action; he threatened action, then did nothing, which was the WORST possible policy.
@Rich Wheeler:
I never said that. However, I do agree that it was best to determine WHO did it as Islamic extremists would not hesitate one moment to murder women and children if they could blame an enemy for the act. It appears the indication this was Assad (or his forces, at least) was already pretty clear to our observers on the ground. They had tracked the aircraft outbound and returning.
@Nanny G:
There was no lesson in Libya that was not already known; that creating a power vacuum in a Muslim country is dangerous and stupid. Obama, Hillary and every other Democrat whined about that in Iraq (though Bush left no vacuum) yet they all conspired to do just that in Libya with predictable results.
@Greg:
Where did he get these? Assad, Putin and the UN said they were all gone. Oh, and Obama CREATED this entire mess.
It’s not that amazing. Trump is a leader and Obama was a community organizer.
So, are they not friends anymore? Did Putin lose control of Trump? What the hell happened? MAYBE your little Putin/Trump nexus was all a big, fat lie?
Trump has won here on so many levels.
@Greg:
Putin has to do something to save face.
@Rich Wheeler:
Not that I disagree in principle.It’s the nuclear war in response that concerns me.
@Bill… Deplorable Me, #32:
Yes. He is Winning Big and Kicking Ass in Business and in Life. He has now demonstrated his presidential power to Blow Things Up.
Control wouldn’t be the most likely objective. The most likely objective would be to play against the least challenging opponent. Once that’s been arranged, you might then spend some time testing your opponent’s responses.
I’ve been wondering why the Assad regime undertook a small-scale nerve agent attack. They knew it couldn’t escape being noticed. It wasn’t done because it accomplished anything at all, militarily. It didn’t gain the regime any domestic or international support or sympathy; predictably, the effect was the exact opposite. So, why did they do it?
@esdraelon:
your name is from Emerq Yizre’el, very beautiful region. alleged links at time are high priority. ever work for Mossad probably not
@MOS #8541:
Appreciate that…..am floored…you are the first who has ever recognized that…
Mossad….unfortunately not, though I likely would have had the opportunity arisen……
@Ajay42302:
Now that I’ve had a couple flutes of champagne I’m ready to answer this properly.
Because obama would have turned it into another clusterf**k just like Libya because he’s such an a**hole.
Kinda like you.
@Greg: #35
Maybe you recall (or would rather not to) that regime change, the removal of Bashir Assad, in Syria was the goal for Obama. This is admitted and outlined by John Kerry. This is the basic reason that Zero never did anything about that line in the sand as he felt ISIS would do it for him………
In order to accomplish this primary goal, Obama was willing allow the the rise of ISIS in Syria, and elsewhere, by placing his bet that ISIS’s success would force Assad to acquiesce toward Obama’s terms and step down.
In order to facilitate the two objectives, Obama and Kerry intentionally gave arms to ISIS and even, arguably, attacked a Syrian government military convoy to stop a strategic attack upon the Islamic extremists killing 80 Syrian soldiers.
The problem in the Obama/Kerry’s secret strategy became clear when ISIS grew in sufficient strength to give the White House optimism for the scheme – however, instead of capitulation as Obama and Kerry hoped, Assad turned to RUSSIA for help……
Actually I agree with you that it is nonsense for Assad to do such a small scale chemical attack when he is winning the war……..the attack was most very likely perpetuated by the desperate anti-Assad forces both at home and abroad……
Reference:
Conservative Treehouse
@Greg:
Like Obama and Hillary did in Libya? Only, better?
He has demonstrated Presidential leadership and action. He didn’t mull it over for 6 months, like Obama did General McChrystal’s request for reinforcements for a spring offensive against the Taliban. Trump led.
Well, it certainly looks like Trump got off the leash, doesn’t it? In fact, if I had ever bought into that load of runny $hit, I would be wondering why I pay attention to such liars that trot that kind of crap out.
I don’t know if you’ve been made aware of this, but Muslims don’t think much of the lives or rights of others if they happen to be on the other side of their beliefs. As we have seen, many simply adopt the belief that everyone else does not deserve to exist. Behead, burn, shoot, gas… it’s all pretty much the same. I actually doubt Assad is so stupid as to think a Sarin attack would be a good idea; I think some rogue commander panicked and launched the attack. However, whomever it was, it was Assad’s guy and this was Assad’s chemical weapons (even if it came from Iraq), it is Assad’s war and that means it is Assad’s attack.
You know I believe in K.I.S.S.–not the band
Trump saw the video of the foaming at the mouth dying children. It hit him like a ton of bricks–head and mostly heart—he got mad–very mad—“That f ing SOB—PUNISH HIS ASS so this won’t happen again”
Mad Dog Mattis—-“Yes Sir Right away sir.” 12 hours later 60 Tomahawk missiles “on the way Sir”
“Great job General. That c—k s–ker will get the message. I gotta get back to dinner with the Chinese P.M you seen his wife?–HOT He’s probably on the phone right now with that Korean ba—tard warning his ass. HA.
SOS Tillerson says regime change is not our goal.
Then Assad gases his countrymen.
Trump orders an airstrike to reverse SOS’s words.
DrJohn, who originally doubted that Assad would do that, applauds.
Conservative cognitive dissonance continues unabated.
If it is the rebels expect an increase in the use of chemical weapons, I just dont want to see either of my nephews serving get killed over a country that wasnt important enough for their own men to either take over nor defend. They run to demand EU freebies.
Too hard not to remember them in the backyard playing t-ball, sprawled on the floor with joystick in hand furiously hopping turtles to keep Mario alive.
@kitt: Understood–I thank them for their service–think ALL young men AND women should serve a minimum of two years–Peace Corps acceptable.
The Free Syrian Army had the tyrant Assad on the ropes till the Russians came in–Obama’s biggest mistake of his Presidency–Repubs who backed Assad over rebels bear some responsibility.
What happens next? The Billion Dollar question–I got faith in The United States Marine Corps–wherever they are tonight.
Who knows what is next.. I just dont want escalation of US in ME when the little fat psycho in N. Korea is melting down.
@Rich Wheeler:
Who exactly was/is the Free Syrian Army? Show us.
https://pjmedia.com/blog/vetted-moderate-free-syrian-army-commander-admits-alliance-with-isis-confirms-pj-media-reporting
Syria: nearly half rebel fighters are jihadists or hardline Islamists, says IHS Jane’s report
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10311007/Syria-nearly-half-rebel-fighters-are-jihadists-or-hardline-Islamists-says-IHS-Janes-report.html
It isn’t as simple as you would like it to be.
@DrJohn: You are right–it’s not simple. Free Syrian Army formed in late 2011 by Officers defecting from Assad led Syrian Army.
When you think Assad in 2000-2011 think Gadaffi, Sadham, Mubarek–basic dictators–for better or worse–IMO mostly worse.
FSA gained strength 2011-2013–Assad stepped up atrocities as he tried to hold on–including use of chem weapons against FSA and civilians as well as systematic torture of prisoners and political opponents.
2013—red line crossed by desperate Assad—NO response from BHO and the free world–Russians enter militarily–IT’S OVER for FSA—
Outside forces like Al Queda , ISIS becoming more powerful and lead fight but by 2017 Assad/Russians secure “victory”
WHERE FROM HERE?? Destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria
@esdraelon:
That’s good info. I first came to FA about the time Mata was leaving. Actually, along about 2010. I encountered her on another site and she told me about FA. That’s been several years now.
I do agree that most on the left don’t have a message. Their main message seems to be that conservatives are not aware of the world, all while strongly supporting a Non-American for the last 8 years as president.
@Rich Wheeler: One of the biggest mistakes Obozo made was taking out Gadaffi without having a plan and letting ISIS and Al Qaeda take over. While removing Gadaffi was fine, not having a plan to replace him was all Obozo. He basically just wanted the militant Muslims to take over.
@Redteam: Talk about not having a plan—–repeal and replace the ACA??
DT——goes all touchy feely in Syria—-now what?
@Bill… Deplorable Me, #40:
Right. And Christians are all fanatical assassins that gun down doctors who provide women with abortion services.
Why are people on the right so prone to group-level attribution errors? This particular type of faulty logic is a fundamental component of much right-wing populace propaganda, and largely responsible for Donald Trump’s election: “I’m the banner carrier for US. I’m the only person who can keep you safe from THEM. And you certainly know how THEY all are.” Them being Mexicans, Muslims, black people, democrats, liberals, gay people, Hollywood personalities, critical media commentators, unions, government employees, teachers, scientists, or whatever other category is convenient at the moment.