I don’t believe it presages greater military involvement in Syria. I think he was just bowing to media and political pressure to make a symbolic strike, just the same way he bows to the overwhelming force of the Israel Lobby. I think Trump understands that Syria has no vital strategic interest to the US.
I read in the media that Trump’s military advisers were united behind this strike. So I think, fine, do it. Not a big deal.
I differ from the Alt Right in this respect. They’re appalled. I cut Trump more slack. Ideological purity is not as important as pragmatic results. Trump has to make compromises and this Syrian strike is a compromise to change the news cycle, to please his critics so he can get important things done.
If the United States proceeds to get bogged down in Syria, I’ll obviously be shown to be wrong.
Trump needs some media Jews on his side. He doesn’t need them all, just a significant number, and this Syrian strike insures that some media Jews remain on his side.
This action also shows that Trump is not predictable, which is a strength in his position. It makes him look a little bit crazy. Crazy dangerous. Underestimate him at your peril.
I find Trump’s strike on Syria hilarious. I love all the former Trump supporters saying they feel “betrayed.”
“Betrayed” is simply a hyper-emotional response to other people having different priorities from what you expected. I never feel betrayed. I only feel surprised at times and disappointed that I was not in touch with reality.
Guest after guest is gushing. From MSNBC to CNN, Trump is receiving his best night of press so far. And all he had to do was start a war.
— Sam Sacks (@SamSacks) April 7, 2017
* It’s not very significant in and of itself but it’s part of a broader problem of not being able to stand up to establishment conservatives, which has been an issue since inauguration day but seems to be getting worse and worse.
* The Iraqi debacle soured Bush’s presidency.
The Libyan fiasco irrevocably marred Obama’s presidency, as Obama himself recognized. May have cost H. Clinton the presidency.
Trump himself said that Obama should NOT intervene in Syria years ago when Obama was in an identical situation.
People voted for Trump precisely because he promised to be a peace candidate.
The Internet is in an uproar. The_Donald on Reddit – a.k.a. Trump central – is vociferously against intervention.
It’s simple – don’t do it, Donald! Don’t listen to the Neocons who hate your guts. Listen to the people who voted for you. Learn from the errors of Obama and Bush. Don’t become another mass murderer and war criminal by engaging in an idiotic war. Don’t ruin your presidency three months in. Go after ISIS, not Assad. Be smart.
* The cool kids at treehouse and other places are saying OK Trump knew it was a false flag but calculated the benefits of this strike and decided it solved so many problems at once that he gave it the go ahead anyway.
So why wouldn’t the false flag perps do it again? The sickos might decide now is the time to stage a truly spectacular and gruesome operation. And what is Trump’s move then?
Seems like now the stage is set for the real chess move. Maybe another much larger false flag outside of Syria carried out by an angry supporter of Assad.
* Total Win for NeverTrumpers/Neocons. Trump is essentially a hostage of a Deep State & a Senate that won’t confirm Nationalists or Noninterventionists to his cabinet. A necessary precondition to a more nationalist presidency is to have an at least mildly nationalist Senate. It is getting harder to see what Trump can achieve this year with Deep State & their allies opposing him. The PaleoRight was purged from DC in the 98-2012 window & we are paying a big price for that now.
* Possible that the chemical bombing was a false flag operation by the CIA. Who knows? But overall, I think Trump made the right move sending in the Tomahawks. It accomplishes several things:
1. Sends message to the world that Trump is more aggressive than Obama. More willing to kick some ass.
2. Sends message to Premier Xi that he is willing to use direct intervention against North Korea, so they had better step up and help fix that problem.
3. Makes KJ Un wonder how far he can go before he may be next to get the Tomahawks.
4. Confounds Dems who are chasing the Trump-Russia connection, especially when this was a move against Russian interests (Tillerson saying Russkies were insincere or inept not to know about the gassing).
5. Provokes positive feelings for Trump from those (never Trumpers) who have seen the videos of the suffering children and feel good that ‘something’ wasa done about it.
There are probably some other benefits. Ultimately though, Trump will never send more than a few ground troops into Syria. His bigger play in the mideast is (or should be) destabilizing Iran politically to rid that country of the crazy Mullahs.
* I keep seeing people say this is a betrayal of Trump’s base. Do you really think so? He was the rank and file military’s candidate, not to mention the Israel lovers candidate. I would think a large part of his base is thrilled by this.
The President must get Congressional approval before attacking Syria-big mistake if he does not!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2013
Be prepared, there is a small chance that our horrendous leadership could unknowingly lead us into World War III.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 31, 2013
What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict? Obama needs Congressional approval.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2013
We should stay the hell out of Syria, the "rebels" are just as bad as the current regime. WHAT WILL WE GET FOR OUR LIVES AND $ BILLIONS?ZERO
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 16, 2013
The terrorists in Syria are calling themselves REBELS and getting away with it because our leaders are so completely stupid!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2013
We should stop talking, stay out of Syria and other countries that hate us, rebuild our own country and make it strong and great again-USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2013
What I am saying is stay out of Syria.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 4, 2013
Crooked Hillary Clintons foreign interventions unleashed ISIS in Syria, Iraq and Libya. She is reckless and dangerous!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 21, 2016
Don't attack Syria – an attack that will bring nothing but trouble for the U.S. Focus on making our country strong and great again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2013
"@mguarino64: @realDonaldTrump " How would you treat the Syria situation if president ?" I'd let them all fight with each other-focus on US!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2013
Jeb, why did your brother attack and destabalize the Middle East by attacking Iraq when there were no weapons of mass destruction? Bad info?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2015
* In spite of media reaction, or perhaps befitting it, this was really nothing, like Bill C. dropping ordnance on the pharma factory in Sudan. By the way, there’s yer new headline talking-point, Trump wagging the dog to distract from his Russia Scandals or Kellyanne Conway’s feet on the couch. In other words, a day ending in Y.
I anticipate the Unz Rev bullpen getting disenchanted and crestfallen, and penning their new versions of The God That Failed to go on sale from CreateSpace for $8.95. Basically I still think Trump is non-interventionist, though not very ideological about it. Through the ideological lens, this looks like an error. The Colin Powell “If you break it you bought it” is true despite being clumsily expressed. We shouldn’t be prodding ISIS’s battlefield opponents except under utilitarian ends of protecting our soldiers (who shouldn’t be over there to begin with, yeah yeah, but guess what, they are). Through the barely ideological, shake-up-the-Beltway Trumpian amateur kabuki lens, this is easy for him to explain, like a caped superhero setting the drug dealer’s lab on fire. I think it will be hilarious to watch the contortions of the Russian Menace thumpers adjusting to this “nonsensical plot twist.” Day 28: Trump Still Offers No Evidence of R2P Quality-Assurance of Syria Strike.
* All that matters is that Trump does what he said he’d do on immigration. Who cares about anything else. God, I hope I never find myself in a fox hole with you cut and runners.
* I was with some friends tonight when the news broke, and they seemed genuinely confused that he’d attacked Syria because, in their words, “Isn’t he supposed to be friends with Russia?”
* If false flag atrocities are rewarded it will encourage more false flag atrocities.
With Trump accepting the latest performance by the White Helmets theater group at face value and giving the neo-cons what they want you can expect a made-for-the-cameras atrocity to take place in the Ukraine in the very near future.
* That’s one silver lining – more people woke to what a media con our entire society has become.
* We aren’t out as long as we are supplying Israel with $5 billion annually in military hardware and providing it with diplomatic cover.
* The “Strange New Respect” is right on schedule. I have always wondered why the Russians don’t simply threaten to retaliate against Israel in response to American aggression, this would probably be the most effective way to coerce America and the global media into total acquiescence. Hell, if Putin blackmailed our elites with a nuclear threat towards Israel, they would probably let him annex half of Europe without a peep.
* Trump is no George Bush in terms of rhetoric, but I note a distinct lack of passion for this.
The Washington Post ran a story that discussed the decision to use Tomahawk missiles. They are the least risky way to bomb something.
Trump did get burned on the covert mission in Yemen. That was the general’s idea. He started blaming them immediately.
This won’t go well and Trump, but Trump will be blaming it on someone else the second something goes wrong. He already blamed Obama for not doing it when he should have.
I was quite excited about Tillerson saying that we no longer cared about Assad last week. Why not pick the internationally recognized leader of state and winner?
If he is stupid enough to put boots on the ground …. and to actually try to remove Assad …. that makes him another Obama.
Somehow I can’t imagine Trump ‘taking one for the team’ and accepting any responsibility or blame. This deeply ingrained character trait could serve him well.
Overall, he looks like a sucker. For the moment.
* I think most of Trump’s cabinet picks and advisers are being influenced by the Neocons. Pence, Haley, McMaster, Perry, and even Mattis all sound like Neocons. I did kinda see this coming when John Bolton and Eliot Abrams were being seriously considered for key positions in the State Department. I guess Paul Gottfried was right when he said that the Neocons would survive a Trump victory.
* I don’t support attacking Syria either, but did you really expect the President of the United States to stay out of every single military confrontation in the world, especially in the Middle East? That just seems naive to me, expecting one man to overturn 40 years of Washington consensus in less than three months. I just think this isn’t as big a deal as some people are making it. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong in the coming days and weeks, we shall see.
* The Republicans decided in favor of the nuclear option regarding Supreme Court nominees.
However, I think we will see them start going nuclear on everything. I’ll admit I don’t fully get it, but the Senate Rules can be ignored with 50 votes plus the VP. It seems that a super majority is required to change the rules, but not to suspend them.
For all the handwringing over cloture, the filibuster was always just a work around. That is, it cut off debate. Period. But if the Senate was a well functioning deliberative body, they wouldn’t refuse to vote on most issues. Refusing to vote isn’t deliberation.
All votes (except treaties) are simple majority. It was only a beneficial tactic when it wasn’t used frequently. The media shorthand for the rules is that it takes 60 votes. Like 60 votes for everything.
This strikes me as potentially a huge deal.
Bombing something has become simply something to do when we don’t have a better idea. And this isn’t even bombing — just lighting up a military base.
I’m an optimist.
* This makes sense. Trump loves to throw curve balls and stay unpredictable. And seeending missiles is not the same as invading Iraq.
* Who cares about a few missiles? Israel bombs Syria every now and again and nobody thinks it’s going to be a prelude to an endless occupation. A superpower like the US can drop cruise missiles on whoever it wants, and will occasionally do so. Stop pissing your pants and focus on immigration.
* The evangelical Christians always enjoy a good war. They’ll be onboard.
What about the working-class voters in the Rust Belt states? Working-class voters are notoriously gullible when politicians start thumping the patriotic drum.
The big losers will be the alt-right. They’re about to be thrown under the bus. They’re no longer needed.
The thing about politicians who practise the gentle art of betrayal is that they usually thrive. Look at Churchill. Betrayal works.
* Yes, the last stand of traditional Americana failed. We will fade out like the Indians.
2020 won’t matter. Everyone politician has been bought by the Israel first eternal war lobby. I hate what my country is. I supposed it never really was what I thought.
Sexual perversion crammed down our children’s throats daily, anti-white hatred resulting in violence condoned by tptb, family & religious breakdown, cheerleading for poor foreign policy lest one be called unpatriotic, toxic feminism.
What exactly is there that is beautiful or meaningful to “conserve?”
* First problem: the US is the lone superpower.
That, in and of itself, isn’t necessarily bad since majority of Americans are decent people.
It’s the Second problem in combination with first problem that makes the world so toxic.
Among various groups in the US, there is only on superpower group. Jewish.
In the past, the lone superpower group within the US was Anglo or Wasp.
And then, esp after WWII, the power got more balanced among Wasps, Catholics, Irish, Ethnics, blacks, Jews. Also, there used to be the generational divide that pit Experience vs Youth.
But over time, Youth Culture took over everything, and even old people still listen to youth music and rock. And if boomer rebelled against elders, today’s youths take all their cues from teachers and Pop culture controlled by boomer/ X gen elders.
Wasp power declined fast. Ethnic power also faded as various ethnics — Italians, Irish, Polish, etc — just became generic Americans, hardly an identity to rally around. Blacks got stuck in rage politics and self-destruction. Religious identity faded and Catholics grew weak. Evangelicals and Southerners got numerical power but not much brains.
Meanwhile Jewish power rose and rose. In time, Jews became the superpower group in America. The only one. There was a time when Anglos were the lone superpower group. And then, there was balance among various groups since end of WWII. But then, the only group that was perpetually on the rise were Jews.
There has been massive non-white immigrants, but most Mexicans and other such are lackluster in gaining elite power. As for Asians, they do better in schools and make decent money, but they lack spark and unity among themselves. Whereas all Jews tend to become ONE in the US regardless of their national origin(Hungary, Poland, Russia, Germany etc), the various Asians groups don’t see eye to eye on anything. Chinese and Hindus as one people? Fat chance. Since Asians generally follow and suck up to power, they just do whatever is necessary to gain favor from Jewish elites.
Muslims haven’t amounted to much either.
So, we have a dangerous situation. US is the only superpower in the world, and the US is ruled by one ethnicity as the lone superpower group. This group is only 2% of the US population but have tremendous power over brain and nerve centers of law, economy, government, judiciary, and etc. If not for First Amendment of the US constitution, even this comment could be deemed illegal(as in Europe), and I could be hunted down. Thank Todd for the first amendment.
If Jews were the lone superpower group in a multi-polar world, it wouldn’t be so dangerous. In that case, even if Jews controlled the US, the US would not control the world that is multi-polar and balanced among other great powers. So, there would be balance, and the US, even if Jewish-dominated, would respect that balance.
But the US is the lone power and controls the world. So, WHO controls the US is very important to all the world. If there was balance of powers among various racial/ethnic groups within the US, it wouldn’t be so bad since different groups will balance each other’s interests.
It’s like various parties balance each other out in a democracy. One-party system can lead to autocracy. In the US, we have a one-group system despite there being many groups and despite the supreme one-group being only 2% of the population.
Suppose Palestinian Americans and Russian-gentile-Americans and Iranian-Americans also had considerable clout in the US. Then, US foreign policy wouldn’t be so rabidly Zionist and Judeo-centric. But since there is NO balance of powers among the various groups in the US, the US as lone superpower is essentially a War Machine for the Tribe as the only superpower group in the US. This is very dangerous. For all the world to tremble before the supremacist interests of such a small number… it’s out of whack. The New War on Russia is a Jewish War on Russia. Sure, Jews use homo proxies and pussy riots proxies — just like ‘white helmets’ are used as proxies in Syria —, but the puppet-masters are the Tribe.
Long ago, UK sought to maintain balance of power on the European continent so that no single nation will consolidate all of Europe and pose a threat to UK.
Now, something must be done to bring forth some kind of ethnic or group balance in America because Jewish lone-superpower-group domination is greedily exploiting and driving all of American power to serve very narrow interests, albeit under cover of ‘principles’ like ‘human rights’, ‘liberal democracy’, and etc.
Nikki Haley is just like the Azid kid. She will whore out in any way and anyhow to rise up the ladder and play the game. Just a whore of power and privilege.
Anyway, if the US were the lone superpower in the world BUT didn’t have a lone superpower group to hog all the power internally, there would be some restraint to US power. Even if US is the most powerful nation, its global agenda would be balanced due to various contending forces within the US. It’s like Greek Americans side with Greek Cypriots and Turkish Americans side with Turkish Cypriots. But as neither side is dominant, US doesn’t use its power to favor Turks or Greeks. Balance. And because Irish-Americans were very powerful, they applied pressure on the US to sue for peace in Northern Ireland than just side with UK. So, US respected both British interests and Irish interests. But pity the Palestinians. They got no power at all. So, even after so many yrs of Zionist occupation, all we hear from US politicians is “Israel, Israel, Israel”.
Problem is Jews have become the lone superpower group in the US. This is more dangerous than when Anglos were the only superpower group. For one thing, since Anglos were the majority for good part of US history, it seemed just that they wielded the most power. And even when wasps were no longer the majority, they made up substantial number of Americans, and besides, many ethnics had become Anglo-Americanized and shared in the values and interests.
So, Wasp power did represent many peoples and even groups within America.
But Jews have never been more than 3% of the US population. So, for them to have lone superpower status within the US throws things out of balance. If the US had three superpower groups, even that wouldn’t be so bad. If wasps, Jews, and Hispanics were three superpower groups, there would be some kind of balance among them. But Jews are the ONLY superpower group now. White gentiles could become a superpower group if they all pulled together, but white identity is deemed either suspect(even evil) or too generic. So, whites are like a slug with no backbone.
In the other scenario, suppose the US has Jews as lone superpower group but American power is on par with Iran or Brazil. In that case, Jews would dominate the US but the US would not dominate the world. And that makes for some balance in the world.
But when Jews are lone superpower in the US that is the lone superpower in the world, that is a dangerous mix.
Jews have achieved in America what Napoleon or Hitler sought in Continental Europe. Control over all.
Traditionally, the two powers that did most to maintain balance in the Continent were UK and Russia. Both feared the unification of Europe. Napoleon and Hitler who unified Europe attacked UK and Russia. In both wars, UK and Russia were allied. And it seems rather logical that UK would exit EU before others. Still, UK is no longer what it used to be. It’s a spent power, a poodle of the US. Russia is still a major power though also greatly diminished.
US and EU united under Jewish hegemony is very dangerous to the world. And we are seeing it.
* Trump was always a buffoon — the main point of supporting Trump was to keep HRC out of the White House — also to deliver a richly deserved kick in the teeth to the Establishment — the hope was that once in office, he would somehow grow into the job — surround himself with competent people ideologically aligned with his campaign rhetoric, especially on immigration and economic nationalism — people who would help him formulate a policy and legislative agenda — with this action he has alienated a great many of those who voted for him — but the people who always despised him will still despise him — which brings me back to where I started: he’s apparently too stupid to realize that, a buffoon — but then I already felt that way after seeing his son-in-law riding in a helicopter over Iraq.
* First thought: the US tipped off the Russians who, surely, tipped off the Syrians. Not much actual damage done.
1. A token display of force to divert his increasingly unhinged critics. Leverage with Russia in advance of Tillerson’s trip as they negotiate Assad’s exit and joint plan on squashing the cockroaches.
2. The bored generals and You-Know-Who’s finally got to him and it’s off to war and endless occupation of yet another country that deeply resents us. Billions to bomb them, billions to rebuild them. More immigrants, and more Muslims with a grudge.
The problem with 1 is, who do you put in power in the Big Man’s place? Syria is a snakepit and the Assads have spent so much time consolidating power that there’s nobody competent outside their circle left. Does anybody know ANYONE in Syria ready to step up to the plate? Or does the CIA have some gray-haired guy on ice in a Northern Virginia suburb ready to roll out, who’ll have to hire US mercs because he can’t trust his own countrymen?
I just don’t see how you implement 1 without it leading to 2.
I’m paused at grey-pill for now. But immigration was the issue that swept him into power (via the Electoral College) and he doesn’t seem to be doing much on it. And now he’s bit into something that could occupy his time 24/7 if he let it (like the perplexed LBJ with Vietnam).
* White people like me were hoping for a messiah who would kick the usurers from our temple instead we got a media driven charlatan we were hoping against all hope would turn out on our side.
* Sorry if I haven’t fallen in love and have been bedazzled by Ivanka Trump by so many others. I don’t dislike her, but she is a little too ambitious and aggressive for my tastes. I also think she is a bit light in her loafers.
I don’t think she has a core set of convictions and principles. She seems easily distracted and gloms onto stylish and fashionable things that are dragged in front of her. She has zero damned business being in the WH.
She is given an office there? WTH?!?!@@? NO! We didn’t vote for Ivanka, if she wants to hold office then let her run.
Ivanka should stick to her business and her line of clothing and so on. She has no business being involved in any national policy decisions and neither does her husband.
I am finding this all very disturbing and disappointing.
* The cynic and conspiracy theorist in me makes me think that Trump made a deal with some influential people where in exchange for bombing Assad, he gets Gorusch pushed through, some cabinet appointments that Democrats are dragging their feet on, and maybe some other deals not otherwise known to me at this time.
* Trump, if you or your staffers are reading this, I hope you’ve just done this to send a message to North Korea or China, or maybe one of your family just purchased some Raytheon stock. Learn from the example of GWB, whom you repudiated.
* What’s good for nothing is Trump’s base losing its shit because of something Bill Clinton used to do to distract from sex scandals. You have the first immigration restrictionist president of the modern era and you’re ready to throw it all out because he made Putin and the Iranians a little upset today? Take a chill pill and wait to see where this goes.
* Let’s build some context: Trump spent his life fighting for commercial and social legitimacy among New York Jews who would not let him into their elite country clubs and other circles in spite of Trump being a billionaire New York real estate mogul. Finally, Trump’s daughter is allowed to marry a wealthy New York Jew … but from a Jewish clan temporarily on the “out” because of the conviction of the clan’s patriarch for fraud and bribery.
So, Trump enters the political arena as a president caught between two New York Jews … his son-in-law acting as his senior advisor and New York Senator, Chuck Schumer, the Neocon leading the Democratic charge against the Trump administration — “good” Jew vs. “bad” Jew as it were. The pregnant question: Would Jared (and Trump) operate on the mantra, “What is good for Israel is good for the Jews …” or the original “America First” platform voiced by Trump during his election campaign?
Now we know. Although only 36 and without any political and foreign policy experience, Jared quickly purges the leading “Deplorables”, Mike Flynn and Steve Bannon, from the Trump administration and takes over effective control of the National Security Council. Then, as if a part of a pre-planned Jewish coup, the Trump administration quickly turns “180 degrees” in its foreign policy by joining the Neocon-sponsored anti-Russian crusade, announcing a plan for an autonomous Kurdish region in northern Syria, and attacking Syria.
The tally is in: Jews 1, Americans 0. Game over! It appears that the last presidential election was nothing more than an internal squabble between two Jewish clans in New York City. And, yes, we know they have made amends and now both support using US military power and wealth to eliminate Israel’s existential enemies in the Mideast, even if this takes us to WWIII and a nuclear exchange with Russia.
* It shows that the NY Democrats in the West Wing have defeated Breitbart. I suspect this will lead to a softening in other policy areas. NY Jews tend to be against Muslims but support high performing Asian and Indian immigrants. They are neutral on Hispanics. In the long run expect some kind of sensible amnesty policy along with reasonable but not fiscally destabilizing tax cuts. Trump’s popularity will soar, but probably among people who would never vote for him. If this makes him a one term President, this would still be the greatest third act for the NY showman in the history of the country.
* But the important thing is not the veracity of the evidence around WMD. The important thing is that, for the first time in history, a black man and a woman presented the evidence at the United Nations on behalf of the United States of America. We should all applaud the significance of that, regardless of the consequences.
* This debacle is a direct result of our negligence in failing to promptly hang the chiselers who lied us into Iraq. Though many believe the foreign policy establishment are incorrigible, I am quite sure that a row of corpses swinging from a hastily-built gallows on the National Mall would have done wonders to re-orient their priorities. If you find public hanging too gruesome, blindfolds and a pockmarked wall would have served equally well.
* If this is a one off rather than policy, this is not that big a deal. Reports indicate Russia was warned well in advance to remove their personnel, and statements from them indicate they no longer are giving Assad full support.
If however this is the first move in a ground war or more extensive military action in Syria, it’s a disaster. Would go against everything Candidate Trump’s sensibly said President Trump would not do. Further he had no Congressional authorization for this;’ he is walking into an impeachment trap should he go any further . For 3 decades our foreign policy has been dictated but what ever heart-wrenching video cable networks can show to pull at our heartstrings without concern for the cost in American blood and lucre.
* One hundred years ago – almost to the day – the United States entered WWI, sending us down the path to global empire while remaining a republic at home.
Around 50 years ago, we decided to turn a relatively homogeneous, prosperous nation into a multi-racial, multi-ethnic conglomerate and to adopt the national religion I call The Cult of Equality.
Now, we are witnessing the end of the Republic.
Trump was our last chance, as slim as it was. He had the money and arrogance to take on the establishment. He is failing us. There will not another politician who doesn’t need other people’s money or who is willing to get eviscerated in the press day after day.
Unless Trump start acting on immigration soon, we can list this time as the point where we knew for certain that the country was lost.
* For Israel? Is Israel pushing for a resolution to the Syria issue? Seems to me they’ve been enjoying watching their enemies kill each other. Plus, they get to hop across the border and bomb Hezbollah every now and then, and no one has the ability to do anything about it. Syria is a situation where the Iranians, the Assads and Hezbollah are fighting Al Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas. Why would Israel want to stop that? None of the refugees are going into Israel. None of the fighting has been aimed at Israel. And if Syria breaks up, there is less pressure for Israel to give up the Golan Heights.
* Trump’s election itself was really improbable, but the Trump administration is even more improbable, and the reason is that gloablism is so entrenched among elites and within the Beltway that staffing a nationalist administration, whether a left nationalist or a right nationalist one, is a big problem. Trump himself is an example, as his lack of government experience has really shown in the last seventy or so days, but no one with experience at all was running on his agenda.
For example, both Ron and Rand Paul are good on many issues, but as open borders types neither can be employed in high positions in an administration whose main reason for existence is reducing immigration. Its really that simple. Getting someone who is lined up correction on all three “invade the world”, “invite the world”, and “in hoc to the world” is pretty much impossible. The best you can do is someone like Sessions, who is good on both immigration and trade, but will decide that the highest priority is going after pot smokers.
Then you have the issue that the federal government itself, as Mulvaney noted publically on Meet the Press, is in worse shape than most people realized. If there is a real chance of default because Congress can’t pass a budget or raise the debt ceiling, you probably have to let Goldman Sachs continue to run the Treasury department for the time being. My own suggestion earlier was that Trump punt on foreign policy, keeping the Obama policies but intervening just enough to keep the US out of a ground war (this was basically Obama’s own approach) and concentrate on trade and immigration, until he got up to speed.
But this is really just saying that the federal government and associated institutions may have gotten to the point where they are un-reformable. Well at least we will find out over the next four years.
* The limited statement of aims that Trump gave wasn’t bad (Stephen Miller’s work?): chemical weapons are illegal under international treaties, and it is in our interest to punish any use of them. In so far as that goes, fine. If it is limited to that, then maybe this won’t betoken a return to invade-the-world (which Trump hadn’t really stopped so far anyway).
Assad will just have to go back to killing civilians with explosives and shrapnel, which is how civilized governments slaughter innocents.
* This attack, while it wrenched those of us opposed to ME interventions, it actually triangulated Trump to a center of sorts.
McCain and Graham immediately issued a statement urging further hawkish action, as will many neocon-biased media commentators. And anti-war people will flank Trump now.
So a targeted attack like this, if it doesn’t escalate, is actually the “moderate middle”. As stupid as it is, that is where we are.