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[ZOONAMI]

But what if the sarin was stored at the base, one of these tomohawks could hit the stock pile and it would release the gas everywhere.

That's not how sarin works.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

And for everybody who seems to adhere to the "ratherism" political theory ("we rather have Assad than ISIS"), what about the fact that Assad, father and son, have fostered Al-Qaida for decades and then freed thousand of radical extremist at the beginning of the protests ?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/01/assad-henchman-here-s-how-we-built-isis.html

Again, religious extremism is produced by brutal dictatorship, directly or indirectly.

 

[Iolo]

So what next? This is supposed to be a one-off acccording to DoD ... what if Assad responds, or executes another chemical attack?

 

[Madness]

that's this guys job

https://twitter.com/KFILE

I wonder if all those talking about how Obama didn't stick to the red line realize the GOP tried to block him at everything. Bloody hypocrites. Crying crocodile tears for these children but still cannot allow them to come as refugees here.

 

[royalan]

I can't exactly fault him for this. People are acting like he actually declared war on Syria and just dropped bombs all over the country. But that's not the case. How was this action a bad thing? I don't think we should fall into hating on everything Trump does just because he's Trump. I'm not going to pat him on the back because there are other options he could also be doing here *cough*refugees*cough* along with this. But I'm not going to immediately jump to say this was a horrible atrocity and prepare for the world to end tomorrow.

People aren't criticizing Trump for striking Syria (except for, ironically, his supporters).

What is the potential for casualties?
What is the strategy moving forward?
Were other nations with a stake in the Syrian conflict alerted beforehand?
Was Congress alerted?
What's the message coming from the White House?
Were all relevant Departments informed?

Almost none of the above questions were answered in the affirmative, and these are all questions that should be addressed whenever the US responds militarily in a way that could provoke a larger conflict. It also goes without saying, these were all things that Obama was resoundingly criticized for.

 

[Justified]

He wanted an excuse to not go into Syria and used Congress.

Seriously. Everyone around was against going into Syria because the people were overwhelmingly against it.

Everyone you say??: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...edCoverage&region=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

 

[Agnostic]

The real good news is that this might raise his approval rating above 40%.

 

[marrec]

So what next? This is supposed to be a one-off acccording to DoD ... what if Assad responds, or executes another chemical attack?

I imagine if Assad executes another chemical attack we'll launch more missiles.

 

[toddhunter]

And for everybody who seems to adhere to the "ratherism" political theory ("we rather have Assad than ISIS"), what about the fact that Assad, father and son, have fostered Al-Qaida for decades and then freed thousand of radical extremist at the beginning of the protests ?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/01/assad-henchman-here-s-how-we-built-isis.html

Again, religious extremism is produced by brutal dictatorship, directly or indirectly.

America does not have brutal dictatorship. Religious extremism comes from a lot more sources.

I imagine if Assad executes another chemical attack we'll launch more missiles.

If he blows up a school with a regular missile is that all good?

If he does the same thing but a photo of a child appears on fox news is that all good?

Who knows what happens next.

 

[BHK3]

Obama argued that the 2001 AUMF against Al Qaeda and terrorists applied in Libya.

He didn't choose to make that argument for attacks on Assad.

But he bypassed congress right and then argued for it?

 

[Electric Eye]

The real good news is that this might raise his approval rating above 40%.

He campaigned against what he just did.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

America does not have brutal dictatorship. Religious extremism comes from a lot more sources.

He/she was talking about Syria.

 

[Nerokis]

This isn't going to oust Assad though

It isn't, but it also doesn't necessarily need to. It signals that the US is willing to take action if Assad continues on this course, rearranges the map in such a manner that Russia can no longer take for granted it's going to have infinite space to do what it pleases in Syria, and places additional pressure on the world to seek a solution to the crisis there once more.

It has never been obvious what should be done in Syria, but this kind of attack, in and of itself, isn't necessarily a bad idea. The problem is that how things unfold there will be incredibly consequential, as well as difficult to predict, and it seems like Trump has shifted his policy in a dramatic way over the course of a week. Does he have a long-term plan at all, or was this just a "fuck it, let's see what happens, no harm no foul" move?

 

[R10Neymarfan]

This is what he wants. All of you praising him for this. It was low hanging fruit and you'll eating it up from the palm of his hand. Of course he had a great opportunity to serve everyone in this and now he will get praised for a week

 

[Forearms]

People aren't criticizing Trump for striking Syria (except for, ironically, his supporters).

What is the potential for casualties?
What is the strategy moving forward?
Were other nations with a stake in the Syrian conflict alerted beforehand?
Was Congress alerted?
What's the message coming from the White House?
Were all relevant Departments informed?

Almost none of the above questions were answered in the affirmative, and these are all questions that should be addressed whenever the US responds militarily in a way that could provoke a larger conflict. It also goes without saying, these were all things that Obama was resoundingly criticized for.

I think this was the best Trump could muster in order to make it a "sneak attack".

Trump on Syria's Assad: 'Something should happen'
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/06/politics/donald-trump-syria-options/

 

[benjipwns]

That's not fair, Roosevelt received congressional approval to declare war on the Japanese!

Yeah but Jeannette Rankin voted against it undermining the war effort.

 

[pigeon]

But he bypassed congress right and then argued for it?

I mean, he didn't ask for an authorization, fail to get one, and then decide he didn't really need one. That would have really hurt his case.

Obviously if you think you already have authorization from Congress you will just act, and it's not bypassing Congress to do so.

 

[Agnostic]

He campaigned against what he just did.

This is the American people I'm talking about and you will learn that nothing matters.

 

[Captain Chaos]

That's not how sarin works.

But that's exactly how the Syrian regime and Russians told the world how the Idlib gassing happened.

 

[Netherscourge]

But what if the sarin was stored at the base, one of these tomohawks could hit the stock pile and it would release the gas everywhere.

It would likely only affect the people on that base. It's not like a nuke with a huge radius. It's gas and it'll dissipate eventually. People in the immediate area of the explosion would be affected.

But then, that's their fucking fault for having it in the first place. It's illegal. It's deadly.

 

[marrec]

If he blows up a school with a regular missile is that all good?

Probably.

If he does the same thing but a photo of a child appears on fox news is that all good?

Probably strong words.

Who knows what happens next.

Trump administration tries to drum up a coalition against Assad

 

[Skatterd]

This is what he wants. All of you praising him for this. It was low hanging fruit and you'll eating it up from the palm of his hand. Of course he had a great opportunity to serve everyone in this and now he will get praised for a week

Except interestingly enough this seems to be turning a lot of his former supporters on him.
I have to think more on this whole thing...it's a lot.

 

[Arttemis]

Not true the Authorization Measure just stalled out before Military action(https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-joint-resolution/21), because Syria accepted the US-Russian negotiation to turn over 100% of their chemical weapons (which we now know they didnt)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_Syria's_chemical_weapons

Good point. My goal was merely to point out the fact that the military strike was opposed back then by many of the republicans who are now praising this strike.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

Eyewitness says Syrian military anticipated U.S. raid

Syrian military officials appeared to anticipate Thursday's night raid on Syria's Shayrat airbase, evacuating personnel and moving equipment ahead of the strike, according to an eyewitness to the strike.

http://abcnews.go.com/amp/Internati...ilitary-anticipated-us-raid/story?id=46641107

 

[Carpe Carnim]

I don't know if I want to live in a world where I'm staggered by the idea that somebody should do something to prevent chemical weapons attacks against civilians.

I don't know if most (many?) folks here are saying nothing should be done, but 'just doing something' isn't a coherent strategy.

Unless, of course you believe Trump's admin has sekret planz to destroy ISIS in 30 days, while neutralizing an on-going civil war.

 

[Leona Lewis]

Eyewitness says Syrian military anticipated U.S. raid



http://abcnews.go.com/amp/Internati...ilitary-anticipated-us-raid/story?id=46641107

Pretty obvious the Russians tipped them off.

 

[ZOONAMI]

But that's exactly how the Syrian regime and Russians told the world how the Idlib gassing happened.

And? They are full of shit.

 

[Shadybiz]

Eyewitness says Syrian military anticipated U.S. raid



http://abcnews.go.com/amp/Internati...ilitary-anticipated-us-raid/story?id=46641107

If true, hmm...I wonder who might have tipped them off...

 

[TheSchwab_7]

Eyewitness says Syrian military anticipated U.S. raid



http://abcnews.go.com/amp/Internati...ilitary-anticipated-us-raid/story?id=46641107

Russians tell them to move everything?

 

[Netherscourge]

Eyewitness says Syrian military anticipated U.S. raid



http://abcnews.go.com/amp/Internati...ilitary-anticipated-us-raid/story?id=46641107

I'm hearing on the news that the US gave them enough warning to evacuate the base so they could destroy the planes, fuel, ammo & hangars with minimal loss of life to anyone.

The goal was to destroy Syria's air-strike capability, not kill Syrian or Russian soldiers. The US wanted the base empty of people.

In fact, they said they were not even targeting suspected chemical weapon depots.

 

[marrec]

Yeah but Jeannette Rankin voted against it undermining the war effort.

Her brave actions are a beacon to us all in these trying times.

 

[Ac30]

Pretty obvious the Russians tipped them off.

This is a win/win for everyone

Russians get to keep Assad happy

Assad gets to keep using gas

Trump looks like he gives a shit/is a big boy

 

[louiedog]

Pretty obvious the Russians tipped them off.

Just a big charade and the news will stop talking about Russia for 2 weeks because they can only do one thing at a time.

 

[TheRealTalker]

Eyewitness says Syrian military anticipated U.S. raid



http://abcnews.go.com/amp/Internati...ilitary-anticipated-us-raid/story?id=46641107

yup there were reports before the strike that Syrian regime was evacuating some materials out of their bases


and Trump did indeed warn Russian officials before the designated strikes

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

I'm hearing on the news that the US gave them enough warning to evacuate the base so they could destroy the planes, fuel, ammo & hangars with minimal loss of life to anyone.

The goal was to destroy Syria's air-strike capability, not kill Syrian or Russian soldiers. The US wanted the base empty of people.

I doubt much of anything was accomplished here.

 

[BaasRed]

I'm hearing on the news that the US gave them enough warning to evacuate the base so they could destroy the planes, fuel, ammo & hangars with minimal loss of life to anyone.

The goal was to destroy Syria's air-strike capability, not kill Syrian or Russian soldiers. The US wanted the base empty of people.

The less people die the better. Last thing we need in the middle-east is more death.

 

[ZOONAMI]

Just a big charade and the news will stop talking about Russia for 2 weeks because they can only do one thing at a time.

They need to be thinking about why are the Russians chilling at an aiforce base that has chemical weapons.

 

[pigeon]

I'm hearing on the news that the US gave them enough warning to evacuate the base so they could destroy the planes, fuel, ammo & hangars with minimal loss of life to anyone.

The goal was to destroy Syria's air-strike capability, not kill Syrian or Russian soldiers. The US wanted the base empty of people.

In fact, they said they were not even targeting suspected chemical weapon depots.

Funny thing is, planes are also movable.

 

[The Albatross]

I don't know if most (many?) folks here are saying nothing should be done, but 'just doing something' isn't a coherent strategy.

I don't think that this was 'just doing something' ... Seems pretty targeted and specific: a targeted strike at the military base that launched chemical weapons attacks against civilians, and a message 'dont launch chemical weapons attacks.'

I hate Trump and voted against him (twice!) But I think this may have been the right decision, even fully recognizing his hypocrisy on the issue and any further risks that could come from it. I think there are people who hate Trump as much as I do who think that anything that he does is wrong, no matter what, and more often than not they're probably right. But, following a lot of pro democracy advocates from Eastern Europe and the middle East on Twitter, there is widespread praise for this and I'm willing to entertain that this was the right choice... Not immediately criticize it or post that it's wrong/staggering to blow up illegal chemical weapons supplies.

 

[Iolo]

I imagine if Assad executes another chemical attack we'll launch more missiles.

Ok, but if the goal of this was a one-off to dissuade Assad and demonstrate American resolve, and it doesn't dissuade Assad, then repeating it will do what?

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

The less people die the better. Last thing we need in the middle-east is more death.

That's not stopping anytime soon, and in the meantime, refugees are maliciously left to die.

 

[ryutaro's mama]

Pretty obvious the Russians tipped them off.

So this was some A-Team bullshit where there was a huge explosion but it is possible no one was hurt.

The base might have been empty by the time the missiles got there.

A shitty "show of force" by the reality show President for "ratings".

 

[Mr Git]

When was the last time we fired off missiles?

From a ship like this? A while ago. From planes? All the time, causing more civilian casualties than either Assad or ISIS. But you know, Trump isn't gonna retaliate against his own airbases.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/us-coalition-air-strikes-isis-russia-kill-more-civilians-march-middle-east-iraq-syria-network-for-a7663881.html

Whole situation is horrendous for the civilians caught in this massive clusterfuck.

 

[Briarios]

I'm hearing on the news that the US gave them enough warning to evacuate the base so they could destroy the planes, fuel, ammo & hangars with minimal loss of life to anyone.

The goal was to destroy Syria's air-strike capability, not kill Syrian or Russian soldiers. The US wanted the base empty of people.

In fact, they said they were not even targeting suspected chemical weapon depots.

... You're really buying that? This was all for show.

 

[benjipwns]

The U.S. regularly informs of impending strikes or waits for buildings to be empty.

Back when Saddam tried to have H. W. Bush assassinated, the U.S. responded by firing twenty some cruise missiles into the Iraqi Intelligence Service's Baghdad headquarters at 1AM so there wouldn't be anyone injured.

Spoiler

Nine civilians died anyway.

 

[Arttemis]

Wolf Blitzer just reported that this attack strategy was conceived during the Obama administration.

 

[Skatterd]

Funny thing is, planes are also movable.

Donald "We shouldn't tell people when we're attacking" Trump

 

[pigeon]

The U.S. regularly informs of impending strikes or waits for buildings to be empty.

Back when Saddam tried to have H. W. Bush assassinated, the U.S. responded by firing twenty some cruise missiles into the Iraqi Intelligence Service's building in the middle of night so there wouldn't be anyone injured.

Spoiler

Nine civilians died anyway.

Moral of the story is don't ever work as a janitor for an intelligence agency.

 

[Escape Goat]

Funny thing is, planes are also movable.

We know where your planes are and we are tracking them. We are going to bomb your planes. Don't be near them.

 

[shawnbuddy]

Honestly, this was the least Trump could get away with. He warns the Russians. They warn the Syrians. All the critical equipment gets moved and we spend $70 million tearing up a mostly abandoned airfield and a few fortified bunkers. Trump could still cause it to spiral into WWWIII through incompetence but the intent seems to be to have a show of force against the chemical weapons then let everything else go back to the status quo and let Trump go back to the golf course.