Bang on there me old pal. Theyâre all in it together, the cunts and the poor bastards living there are the only ones suffering.
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Given that Tillerson appears to be mute and has spent most of his time on the job napping, you wouldnât expect him to be in the loop.
But thatâs his purpose, to oversee the de-operation of the State department, a managed wind down, like Pruitt with the EPA, with Kushner, the real estate boy, operating as de facto Foreign Minister.
That doesnât look so smart now.
The authority on Syria is the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, AKA a lad in a flat in Coventry getting his information off twitter. Thatâs where we get most of our information from.
Trump was attempting to thaw relations with Putin, which in fairness was a noble idea. The new cold war we are entering is good for no one.
Assad fucked him over and he acted. At least it shows that he actually has âred linesâ unlike Obama.
I doubt Putin was too happy either, seems a stupid thing to do, theyâve the tide turned in the war and while they havenât quite won it they arenât far off, Putin was looking a genius having completely outflanked the yanks, he had the most pro Russian US Government in decades, maybe ever (a little too pro Russian it would seem) and now heâs back in the role of villain.
There are a lot of reasons to legitimately be disgusted with Trump, but I donât think this is one.
As an aside I saw some commentator say that Obama refusing to intervene in Syria post the âred lineâ being crossed was the catalyst for Putin to have a go in Crimea. Itâs bizarre he was so reluctant to fire in a few bombs considering how happy he is to drone strike the shit out of Yemen and Pakistan. Itâs almost like American Foreign policy is being decided in Saudi Arabia.
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Trump had the Chinese president over for dinner when he was ordering the strikes which was a nice touch.
Like a classic gangster trick of being nice as pie chatting to a potential rival, while at the same time cutting the head off a kitten.
I bet he looked him right in the eye when phoning the strikes in. The Chinese will be begging him for a deal on North Korea by the end of the week.
Cruise Missiles
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Obama attempted to thaw relations with Russia. That didnât get very far, mainly due to Putinâs beligerence, although at least that âthawâ took at least four years to unravel.
Thereâs a difference between attempting to thaw relations with Russia and actively co-operating with Russia to enable the destabilisation the entire post-World War II western order, as Trump has done.
That enabling of Russian attempts at western destabilisation doesnât look very smart now.
I guess the same people that will now say âat least he actedâ about Trump are likely to be the exact same people castigating Obama when âhe at least actedâ as regards Libya.
Should you act unless you have a plan?
And whatâs the plan here? I doubt thereâs much of a plan, given Trump has completely changed his policy since Tuesday over an entirely foreseeable event.
Is his plan now to oust Assad? Last week the Trump administration said it had no such plans.
If there are still no such plans, the attack doesnât amount to very much.
Will Assad and/or Putin test him again by upping the ante even further?
And if so, what will Trumpâs response be?
He fired in a few missiles, Assad will be less likely to use chemical weapons in the future. Job done for now. Would you rather he allowed Assad continue to gas Syrians?
He fired in a few missiles on a whim, completely obliterating everything heâs said for the past four years in the process. Who says that will stop Assad from using chemical weapons in the future?
And if it doesnât, what then?
Putin wants Assad to remain in place.
Unintended consequences are always very possible with things like this, especially in Syria.
Remember Trump criticised Obama for not going in harder in Libya.
Heâs making it up as he goes along.
That shouldnât inspire confidence.
Thereâs not much you can do in Syria, the place is fucked. We all know getting rid of Assad isnât necessarily the best outcome.
Stopping chemical weapons is an achievable aim though. It wonât change much but at least Assad knows thereâs a line he canât cross. Be interesting alright to see what happens if he crosses it again, but as I said it was a stupid thing to do in the first place, I donât see the advantage to him in poking the yanks to see what happens. We were nearly at a point where the US would have taken Assad staying in power to get it sorted
I think the west needs to save Syria, the same way it saved Libya.
They need to get a taste of freedom shoved down their throats.
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I think the Iraqi and Afghanistan model is the one to follow here, mate.
Could be a welcome antidote to the taste of the gas alright.
Do poppies grow in Syria I wonder?
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump - 30 Aug 2013
The President must get Congressional approval before attacking Syria-big mistake if he does not!
Donald J. Trumpâ @realDonaldTrump - 5 Sep 2013
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!
Fox News @FoxNews - 3 Nov 2016
@realDonaldTrump: â[@HillaryClinton] wants to start a shooting war in Syria⌠that could very well lead to World War III.â
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Not presentlyâŚ