International News
See other International News Articles
Title: Warmongers McCain, Graham applaud Syrian airstrikes
Source:
The Hill
URL Source: http://thehill.com/policy/defense/3 ... aham-applaud-syrian-airstrikes
Published: Apr 6, 2017
Author: Rebecca Kheel
Post Date: 2017-04-07 05:44:47 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 766
Comments: 4
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) applauded President Trump for launching airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, saying he “confronted a pivotal moment” unlike former President Barack Obama. “Unlike the previous administration, President Trump confronted a pivotal moment in Syria and took action,” they said in a joint statement. “For that, he deserves the support of the American people.” Trump on Thursday ordered missiles fired at a Syrian air base in response to a chemical attack officials say Syrian President Bashar Assad launched that killed more than 70 civilians. The decision to take military action against Assad is a dramatic escalation in U.S. involvement in the 6-year-old civil war, which the U.S. military has never directly intervened in. It was also a notable departure for Trump, who has said he didn't want to pull the U.S. deeper into the conflict. McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Graham, a committee member and close McCain ally, had earlier Thursday urged action to ground the Syrian air force, including striking airfields. On Thursday night, after the strikes, they said the action sent an important message. “We salute the skill and professionalism of the U.S. Armed Forces who carried out tonight’s strikes in Syria,” they said in a written statement. “Acting on the orders of their commander-in-chief, they have sent an important message the United States will no longer stand idly by as Assad ... slaughters innocent Syrians with chemical weapons and barrel bombs.” They also urged Trump to build on Thursday’s strikes to create a new strategy for Syria and continue work to completely ground Assad’s air force. “The first measure in such a strategy must be to take Assad’s air force — which is responsible not just for the latest chemical weapons attack, but countless atrocities against the Syrian people — completely out of the fight,” they said. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, also issued a brief statement Thursday night supporting the strikes. "I support the President's decision to take military action in Syria,” he wrote. “My hope is that this action will help deter future atrocities by the Assad regime." 
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 2.
#1. To: Deckard (#0)
I also support Trump's airstrikes.
Why?
#3. To: A Pole (#2)
Assad is a brutal dictator. This makes him uncomfortable and degrades his military power. ISIS is evil and terrible, and has to be defeated. That does not mean that the dictator gets a pass. Now, either the Intelligence community was square with Trump, and Trump was square with the public, and the Sarin gas was launched by the Syrians, from that very airbase, in which case the strike on that target, precisely the way it was done, was fully justified in every respect. OR the Intelligence community fell for/staged a false flag attack and Trump either was duped by the Intelligence community or went along with their duplicity, in which case smacking Assad's forces was not really a counterblow to the specific advertised act, but a more general strike against a very evil regime - a strike that it deserved in any case. We're not following up with more and more strikes to bring down the regime (and let ISIS win). Trump made his point. If (which I suspect is true), the Syrian dictator DID authorize the Sarin gas attack, intending to pass it off as a false flag, then he realizes now that under THIS President he will not get the benefit of the doubt - and with 20 planes destroyed and the airbase wrecked he won't be doing that again. 100 civilian deaths is not worth losing an air wing. So if we see no more Sarin gas attacks on civilians, that will be pretty good proof that things were exactly as Trump said they were. But if Assad just got handed a shit sandwich because ISIS pulled off a false flag, there are few people in the world more deserving of a shit sandwich than Assad - so no tears. Effectively, the degradation of Syrian capacity means that the Russians will have to bear more of the brunt of operations. And the Russians are now under real pressure to get the war in Syria WON, because if they delay and linger, and the refugee crisis for the West goes on and on and on, the chance of another false flag rises with every passing weak. And if there's another Sarin gas attack by the Syrians, or that looks like it was done by the Syrians, the Americans will strike again and wreck more Syrian capacity. At a certain point, Trump will just order a massive strike on Assad himself and the regime will be decapitated by US airstrikes. So the Russians have to MOVE now, much faster than they otherwise might. Time is running out for their client state. If Syria is going to remain a Russian client, the civil war needs to be WON by the Russians/Syrians, and the refugee train stopped. IF Syria's government falls and pro-Western rebels take over (the least likely event), then the new government will expel the Russian naval base - or force the Russians into a calamitous foreign policy situation - the Russians cannot afford to lose that base, they have nowhere else TO base. Putin is not in the catbird seat now. He has to scramble to do something. Given the terror attacks in St. Petersburg, the best thing for Russia to do now is ALSO the best thing for us, which is for Russia to heavily commit to winning the war in Syria quickly. Crush ISIS everywhere and re-establish the peace. Assad survives, but with his wings clipped and under Russian supervision - Trump has demonstrated that he will blow up the forces of a Russian ally with Russians AT THE BASE if the Russian ally uses gas on his own people, so just the fact that Syria is a Russian client is no guarantee against American airstrikes in Syria: the Syrians actually have to behave in a civilized manner. Putin can make them do that. Before, he had no incentive. Trump's airstrike changed the entire equation in a way that forces the Russians hand: move fast and get it done, for your benefit AND ours, and that will end Assad's excuse. Then keep him under control. We're saying the same thing to China regarding North Korea. It's not an accident that the Trump launched airstrikes on a Russian satellite - indeed on a base with Russians on it! (we warned them) - within an hour after dinner with the Chinese President. Trump clearly signalled to the Chinese that the US WILL blow up their ally North Korea if they piss us off too much. And the recent US "There is nothing more to say" comment about North Korea's missile launch, in light of this airstrike, should be chilling to Kim. If he does it again, we may very well blow up his missile base. And if we do, given Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, and Chinese backing for North Korea, we will have the Japanese, Filipinos, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese all on our sides. The weakness of Obama provided a vacuum into which the Chinese pressed aggressively and so did Russia. We can work with both China and Russia, and reasonable deals can be concluded, particularly with Russia. But they will not be concluded on the other side's timetable. Trump changed the calculus in a way that puts the pressure on the key players everywhere. This is very likely to get to a swifter, better solution in Syria than we've seen so far. That's why I support the Trump airstrike (singular). I think Assad was probably guilty as sin, and knows it, and so does Putin. Assad won't dare do that again. Now the heat is on Putin to get the war finished. We won't stop that - but no Sarin gas on civilians.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#2. To: Vicomte13 (#1)
I also support Trump's airstrikes.
Replies to Comment # 2. Why?
End Trace Mode for Comment # 2.
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]