Russia and Syria

[Got Stripers]

Be interesting to see how Trump and the UN address the nightmare of chemical weapons, Russia is obviously the wildcard in all this.

[wdmso]

Trump says he's changing his attitude on Syria, Assad what where they before he changed we know he loves Strong men

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Your Majesty, thank you for being with us today. Very much appreciate it.

OMG what if Obama said that Maybe thats his flexibility

[JohnR]

Obama punted Syria (and many other things) to the next admin.

Lots of increasingly lousy options to chose from for the last and current admins

[nightfighter]

Uh oh....... Trump just upped the ante. Launched a strike against Syria

[Ian]

So, question... Where is the "America First" in an air strike against a foreign military airfield in response to a foreign government's use of chemical weapons on their own people?

Don't get me wrong, I kind of agree that something needed to be done, but Trump basically said he was going to be making uncomfortable and non traditional decisions on the world stage to put America first in EVERY (not most, or when convenient) decision.

I hope this ends up sending the right message and Russia and other world powers just let the punishment rain down... otherwise this feels like the beginning of some very anxious times for the world
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[wdmso]

50 cruise missiles 1 air base.. been saying he was dangerous and seems he cant take his own advice?

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account
@realDonaldTrump

Follow
More
The only reason President Obama wants to attack Syria is to save face over his very dumb RED LINE statement. Do NOT attack Syria,fix
U.S.A.

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
AGAIN, TO OUR VERY FOOLISH LEADER, DO NOT ATTACK SYRIA - IF YOU DO MANY VERY BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN & FROM THAT FIGHT THE U.S. GETS NOTHING!

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict? Obama needs Congressional approval.
2:14 PM - 29 Aug 2013

[Sea Dangles]

Where was the outrage when Barry drew the line in the sand and looked away?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[JohnR]

50-60 TLAMs will send a few messages. It won't cripple Assad but it will let him (and Norks / Iran) know he is not going to look the other way.

The world cannot let Chem use persist. Really bad options to choose from

[wdmso]

its all cool until they start shooting back.. I guess we should be thankful no Russian personal were killed that we know of

I am curious is our allies were informed of our intent

why he acted so quickly ( putting on a show for the china's president ?)

or was it to change the headlines about his administration

not saying that use of force should never be used

but acting Unilateral and with in the time frame Raises some red flags for me



You put your right foot in
You take your right foot out
You put your right foot in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about

if it was that easy saw this post this AM on FB

If you voted for Trump and you are glad he did this, you are just as stupid as the liberals. It's an obvious kneejerk reaction.. I was hoping the deep state and neocons wouldn't get to Mr. Trump. This is very disappointing if they did.

[Sea Dangles]

This is the liberal gibberish I could have predicted considering the source. Damned if you do...or don't. I am not opposed, but not sure what motivated this attack. A sackless commentary that would have been spewed in some form regardless of aggression or lack there of.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Obama punted Syria (and many other things) to the next admin.

Lots of increasingly lousy options to chose from for the last and current admins

Punting is exactly what Obama did. And last night, trump refused to call fair catch and instead took that punt right up the middle even though it would be easer to do otherwise. The world now knows that Obama is gone
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[PaulS]

Hopefully took out the planes that dropped the gas. Generally in favor of these types of actions but worried about mission creep, putting our soldiers at risk, etc.

But also indicative of the zigging and zagging on policies.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by wdmso

its all cool until they start shooting back.. I guess we should be thankful no Russian personal were killed that we know of

I am curious is our allies were informed of our intent

why he acted so quickly ( putting on a show for the china's president ?)

or was it to change the headlines about his administration

not saying that use of force should never be used

but acting Unilateral and with in the time frame Raises some red flags for me

I hope no Russian personnel were killed though in fairness, they would care less for our people

Allies were reportedly informed, Russia prepped (which of course means Assad knew)

All in all, I don't think it was a bad response. And it showed there will be penalty for using Chem weapons, as there must be.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by PaulS

Hopefully took out the planes that dropped the gas. Generally in favor of these types of actions but worried about mission creep, putting our soldiers at risk, etc.

But also indicative of the zigging and zagging on policies.

The other scary thing (which really makes these problems almost impossible to solve) is that as bad a guy as Assad is, he is also ruthlessly fighting ISIS, which helps us.

So while some of the people he is slaughtering are innocents who we all would like to help, others he is fighting are even worse than he is. As we learned in Iraq, if we just had him killed, there's a real chance that he could be replaced with someone a million times worse than he is. How do you deal with that? Beats me.

My hope is that Trump sent Assad a message by firing a shot across the bow, the message being "as long as you are killing ISIS jihadists, we will tolerate quite a bit from you, but not chemical attacks on civilians, so knock it off or I'll kill you and take my chances".

Politically, it also seems to reject the notion that Trump doesn't care about Syrian civilians, as well as the notion that Trump is working for Putin.

[buckman]

This is what happens when you sign useless agreements with countries that have no inkling of following through. In 2013 President Obama signed an agreement with Russia to dispose of Syrians chemicals ... Trump just put a little backbone behind that agreement for once .
Iran might take heed with that message
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[FishermanTim]

So it would be fair (and logical) to presume that the arguments against this action are geared toward the fact that it was Trump and not the use of chemical weapons that people are opposed to?

That's what it seems....

[wdmso]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

So it would be fair (and logical) to presume that the arguments against this action are geared toward the fact that it was Trump and not the use of chemical weapons that people are opposed to?

That's what it seems....

More like 80 deaths by bombs or chemical agent are not sure how one is worse than the other

59 missiles in response with out a coherent policy could easily lead to thousands of US troop in danger are 500 US KIA worth 80 ? I say NO

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

Where was the outrage when Barry drew the line in the sand and looked away?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Not outraged, just curious... I'm not sure whether I hate someone ever NOT taking military action in a political hotspot
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Sea Dangles]

Originally Posted by Ian

Not outraged, just curious... I'm not sure whether I hate someone ever NOT taking military action in a political hotspot
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

That is all the evidence need to let you know how critical these decisions are
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Ian

Not outraged, just curious... I'm not sure whether I hate someone ever NOT taking military action in a political hotspot
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

That was a bad precedent. Before then it was fairly understood that use of chemical weapons would have significant consequence but that issue diluted that. A look with minimum consequence into one of Pandora's little boxes.

[rphud]

Hard to believe that things would not be better than they are today if the response was made when they first crossed the red line. It was only a matter of time before Assad started on Idlib, still a surprise he went for the chemicals.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by JohnR

That was a bad precedent. Before then it was fairly understood that use of chemical weapons would have significant consequence but that issue diluted that. A look with minimum consequence into one of Pandora's little boxes.

Yeah, I see that side pretty clearly... but I still think things get very muddy when you talk about the relationship between Assad and Putin... hard to tell if retaliating in those conditions would/will kick off WWIII... although things have been quieter than I would have expected since the attack, so that's a good thing
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[RIROCKHOUND]

I do find an irony that the GOP establishment is supporting this one but weren't singing the same song in 2013. Not that I think this was the wrong decision...
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by wdmso

More like 80 deaths by bombs or chemical agent are not sure how one is worse than the other

59 missiles in response with out a coherent policy could easily lead to thousands of US troop in danger are 500 US KIA worth 80 ? I say NO

Actually I agree with you. A murdered child is a murdered child.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

I do find an irony that the GOP establishment is supporting this one but weren't singing the same song in 2013. Not that I think this was the wrong decision...
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Agreed, it seems appallingly hypocritical.

But if Obama so chose, he could have done it himself (as Trump did). As we know well, Obama was quite at ease bypassing congress when he felt like it.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Agreed, it seems appallingly hypocritical.

But if Obama so chose, he could have done it himself (as Trump did). As we know well, Obama was quite at ease bypassing congress when he felt like it.

Embroiled in two wars made him gun shy, I think, about going in with Congress backing him.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[buckman]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

I do find an irony that the GOP establishment is supporting this one but weren't singing the same song in 2013. Not that I think this was the wrong decision...
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Obama , Kerry and Susan Rice repeatedly assured us that 100% of the chemical weapons in Syria had been disposed of . As a matter fact they bragged about it.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by buckman

Obama , Kerry and Susan Rice repeatedly assured us that 100% of the chemical weapons in Syria had been disposed of . As a matter fact they bragged about it.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Turns out they,and the rest of the coalition was wrong. Or Assad brought some back in to Syria.

See, I voted for him, but I don't think he was infallable...
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[buckman]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

Turns out they,and the rest of the coalition was wrong. Or Assad brought some back in to Syria.

See, I voted for him, but I don't think he was infallable...
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Maybe he just had to send over 150 billion to sweeten the deal
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[JohnR]

Nothing to upset the Iranians of course