It’s official! 50+ missiles fired at a Syrian air base……
The United States has attacked a Syrian air base with roughly 60 cruise missiles in response to a chemical weapons attack it blames on President Bashar Assad. US officials say the Tomahawk missiles were fired from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea, targeting a government-controlled air base in Syria, reports the AP. The move comes after US officials accused Syrian aircraft of killing dozens of civilians by using chlorine mixed with a nerve agent, possibly sarin, earlier this week. President Trump, who had said the Syrian attack crossed “many, many lines” for him, said Thursday night that it was in the “vital national security interest” of the United States to stop the use of chemical weapons.
Syrian state TV reported a US missile attack on a number of military targets and called the attack an “aggression.” The Washington Post notes that the US attack brings with it a heightened risk of confrontation with Syria supporters Russia and Iran. Russia initially defended Assad after the civilian deaths, saying that government airstrikes had hit chemical weapons being stored illegally by rebels. But on Thursday, a Kremlin spokesman made a point to say that its support was not “unconditional.” Hundreds of US troops are currently stationed in Syria, advising local forces ahead of an assault on the city of Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold.
How did it come to this?
A couple of days ago chemical weapons were used in Northwest Syria on a civilian population…..and as usual there is no shortage of finger pointing as to the culprit of use.
The day of the attack an unusual suspect was taunted as the cause……
An apparent chemical attack that killed scores of people Tuesday is being called one of the worst atrocities of the Syrian civil war—and President Trump blames his predecessor. The “heinous” actions of the Assad regime “are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution,” Trump said in a statement, per NBC News. “President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line,’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing.” Syrian activists say at least 72 people, including many children, were killed in a regime airstrike on a rebel-held town in Idlib province.
Obama did it!
Before the attack our napping SecState made a statement about Assad and Sen. Rubio is claiming that statement lead to the attack…..
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria occurred shortly after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad could remain in power.
“In this case now, we have very limited options and look, it’s concerning that the secretary of state, 72 hours ago or a week ago, last Friday, said that the future’s up to the people in Syria on what happens with Assad. In essence almost nodding to the idea that Assad was gonna get to stay in some capacity,” Rubio said on the show “AM Tampa Bay.”“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a few days later we see this,” Rubio concluded.
Scores were killed in Syria’s Idlib province on Tuesday in what the New York Times calls “the worst chemical attack in years” in the war-torn country. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime is saying it had nothing to do with it, and Syrian ally Russia is also deflecting blame, claiming that an airstrike hit a “terrorist” chemical weapons workshop in Khan Sheikhoun, dispersing the poison, now widely believed to have been a nerve agent like sarin gas. But members of the Trump administration, as well as other US politicians, are now blasting Vladimir Putin for protecting Assad, with UN Ambassador Nikki Haley taking the lead at a UN Security Council gathering Wednesday, the Washington Post reports. “How many more children have to die before Russia cares?” she asked at the special session that was prompted by a request from Britain and France.“When the U.N. consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action,” Haley told the U.N. Security Council at an emergency meeting called in response to Tuesday’s suspected chemical attack in Syria’s northern province of Idlib.
Some are noting that just last week, Haley said removing Assad from power was no longer a US priority and that the US had to “pick and choose” its battles; Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also said last week that Assad’s fate was now up to the Syrian people, per Reuters.
The U.S. government and the mainstream media rushed to judgment again, blaming the Syrian government for a new poison-gas attack and ignoring other possibilities,With the latest hasty judgment about Tuesday’s poison-gas deaths in a rebel-held area of northern Syria, the mainstream U.S. news media once more reveals itself to be a threat to responsible journalism and to the future of humanity. Again, we see the troubling pattern of verdict first, investigation later, even when that behavior can lead to a dangerous war escalation and many more deaths.Before a careful evaluation of the evidence about Tuesday’s tragedy was possible, The New York Times and other major U.S. news outlets had pinned the blame for the scores of dead on the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad. That revived demands that the U.S. and other nations establish a “no-fly zone” over Syria, which would amount to launching another “regime change” war and would put America into a likely hot war with nuclear-armed Russia.
We must tread carefully ! We are now in a situation where we cannot go alone.
we for sure…..but I do not see must change for now…depends on the reply….chuq
Reblogged this on O LADO ESCURO DA LUA.
My fear is incontrovertible proof is provided that it wasn’t Assad that launched chemical weapons and in fact, it was the result of a rebel stronghold. Trump (and America) will be in a precarious position that mirrors the vapor of WMDs in Iraq. Lots of details still unknown at this point and I believe our actions were premature.
I can agree but Trump had to act it was a political necessity….I am getting more info as the day progresses…I am sure I will pass it on if there is anything pertinent…chuq
I have no idea of who it was that launched the gas attacks on the Syrian civilian population but from what I have read over here in America from the apologist crowd I think I can be pretty darned certain that no Muslim had anything at all to do with it. So let’s not go there and start blaming Islam for this as some will no doubt be inclined to do.
Blaming a religion is not the way to determine who is at fault….but it is an easy out
None of it had anything at all to do with Islam. That’s what I said. Everybody knows that because that is what everybody has had crammed down their throats and as we know there are no Muslims involved in the Syrian thing. It’s all Americans and Russians and Syrians at this point.
Not true…they are Muslims after all and not everyone of these “rebels” are dedicated to world conquest…that is what Inforwars and WND are for to spread manure.
This question will never be agreed on here in these pages.
Nope never
As Andrew says, this has echoes of the Iraq WMD controversy. They never got to the bottom of that, and they are unlikely to get to the bottom of this. Knee-jerk reactions and missile attacks are not the way to go, that’s for sure. At least you have Britain on your side. The UK government is ‘in complete agreement’ with your president this time. Yippee…Another Iraq, another regime change. Look where that got us.
Best wishes, Pete.
Like I said…positive press was the only concern…and we Americans love some missiles and attacking brown people…chuq
In case you have not seen it….
http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2017/04/its-wmd-all-over-again-why-dont-you-see-it-.html
An interesting article from a very Right-Wing newspaper. False flags? Always a possibility.
I thought you might like it….chuq