President Donald Trump

[Teenwolf]

Well, looks like the Syrians are going to pay for Trump's anger, let's hope that the repercussions aren't disastrous for the US. Apparently offshore Tomahawks...



WaPo News Alerts

Another fireworks display, hopefully... it's funny that it worked so beautifully for him last time, people are seeing through this distraction tactic now.

Last time Trump bombed Syria's airfield Assad attacked from the same airfield the next day! People still ate that crap up like pigs in a trough, especially when mainstream media CNN/MSNBC douchebags like Brian Williams were out calling the missiles beautiful and majestic... The only hope is that the storm surrounding Trump's many crimes is now too big for even a Syrian strike to break through to being front-page news. People prefer porn star news and impeachment porn these days... most people read "Syria" and hit the snooze button, I'd wager.

[Hornsby]

If I’m understanding your post you, and I may not be, you are implying that this is a distraction by Trump to change the news cycle away from the host of negative Trump coverage. It may be, but I don’t think so. I could see that being the case if British and French were not also involved. Neither country has anything to gain by placating Trump to help him, personally. They more likely have a desire, at least I suspect, to help the U. S., however. I’ve seen this conspiracy theory posted all over twitter tonight that it’s just Trump trying to change a bad news cycle. I think it’s an appropriate response to what the pictures we saw last Sunday showed this goon is capable (Asad, not Trump!). Those pictures were heartbreaking.

If it was indeed simply a response to last Sunday's attack, why wait until Friday to do so? I'm not sure that it took that long to get the British and the French on board, and if it did, so be it. But yes, I will stand by my contention that this is in large part a smokescreen to cover for another disastrous week for Trump. And maybe that disconnect between helping trump and helping the US is what took a full work week to do...I'm not familiar enough with upper level negotiations to make that call.

And there's a LOT of discontent among Congress with Trump going ahead without consulting them first.

I agree that Assad has to go, but there needs to be a long range plan. One aspect of any plan would be to allow Syrian refugees into this country...if he truly cares, that would be the very next step.

[Teenwolf]

There's very few conspiracy theories that I believe. I'm of the belief that both of the gas attacks in Syria have been false flag events.

How does it make sense, that in the few days after Trump announces he plans to pack up his army and send them home, that Assad would respond by doing the only thing that's caused the US to "attack" a year ago? Twice now, there's been weird stuff going on in each attack. Especially the guys moving bodies in the 1st attack with their bare hands...

I won't get too deep into it, I just think it's funny that so many people feel 100% certain that Assad used chemical weapons against his own self-interest, when you know that military action as massive as the Iraq war was based on the same type of lies about chemical weapons.

Doesn't matter, Trump has a deal with Putin & by extension, Assad, so they'll likely just play pattycakes.

[DMT]

There's very few conspiracy theories that I believe. I'm of the belief that both of the gas attacks in Syria have been false flag events.

How does it make sense, that in the few days after Trump announces he plans to pack up his army and send them home, that Assad would respond by doing the only thing that's caused the US to "attack" a year ago? Twice now, there's been weird stuff going on in each attack. Especially the guys moving bodies in the 1st attack with their bare hands...

I won't get too deep into it, I just think it's funny that so many people feel 100% certain that Assad used chemical weapons against his own self-interest, when you know that military action as massive as the Iraq war was based on the same type of lies about chemical weapons.

Doesn't matter, Trump has a deal with Putin & by extension, Assad, so they'll likely just play pattycakes.

Yep, amazing they can use the same exact playbook.

[Teenwolf]

If it was indeed simply a response to last Sunday's attack, why wait until Friday to do so? I'm not sure that it took that long to get the British and the French on board, and if it did, so be it. But yes, I will stand by my contention that this is in large part a smokescreen to cover for another disastrous week for Trump. And maybe that disconnect between helping trump and helping the US is what took a full work week to do...I'm not familiar enough with upper level negotiations to make that call.

And there's a LOT of discontent among Congress with Trump going ahead without consulting them first.

I agree that Assad has to go, but there needs to be a long range plan. One aspect of any plan would be to allow Syrian refugees into this country...if he truly cares, that would be the very next step.

Very bold stances, strongly agree.

The 2nd part seems impossible though. You'll need a far-left Democrat, holding an overwhelming majority of seats of representation, otherwise it's political suicide. There's zero political gain from the perspective of a centrist to tackle immigration, especially from Syria. You think Booker/Harris are the ones who would tackle a Syrian refugee sponsorship plan?

[Sour Masher]

There is another more reasonable explanation for why Assad would do this. Because he knows he has the support of Russia, and he knows the US and Trump won't really do anything substantial as long as Russia has his back. The retaliation amounts to nothing, and what all this shows the Syrian people is that Assad can do this and get away with it, so why keep fighting him? How can they expect to win when he is so protected that even gassing children doesn't get enough foreign support to help oust him?

As far of the exact timing if this thing, yeah, I think it is fair to speculate, given who Trump has shown himself to be and how he thinks, about Trump timing this response to try to kill two birds with one stone.

And yes if he really cared about this situation, beyond what it does to make him look better, he'd do a lot more, like trying to get these kids out of the line of fire and gas, even if it means letting them come here.

[Bernie Brewer]

If it was indeed simply a response to last Sunday's attack, why wait until Friday to do so? I'm not sure that it took that long to get the British and the French on board, and if it did, so be it. But yes, I will stand by my contention that this is in large part a smokescreen to cover for another disastrous week for Trump. And maybe that disconnect between helping trump and helping the US is what took a full work week to do...I'm not familiar enough with upper level negotiations to make that call.

And there's a LOT of discontent among Congress with Trump going ahead without consulting them first.

I agree that Assad has to go, but there needs to be a long range plan. One aspect of any plan would be to allow Syrian refugees into this country...if he truly cares, that would be the very next step.

As is often the case, we won’t likely agree on the motivation for the response, and we can speculate on the timing, but, maybe we can agree that a response was necessary. I am in support of a U. S. and a coalition response being necessary. I just don’t think Trump could talk France and Great Britain into a fevered pitched, poorly thought out, impulsive response.

[Hornsby]

As is often the case, we won’t likely agree on the motivation for the response, and we can speculate on the timing, but, maybe we can agree that a response was necessary. I am in support of a U. S. and a coalition response being necessary. I just don’t think Trump could talk France and Great Britain into a fevered pitched, poorly thought out, impulsive response.

We'll agree to disagree about the whole of the motivation for the attack, but I'm curious what you think about the humanitarian aspect of allowing Syrian refugees into the US?

[Bernie Brewer]

We'll agree to disagree about the whole of the motivation for the attack, but I'm curious what you think about the humanitarian aspect of allowing Syrian refugees into the US?

Generally, I have serious concerns about the whole immigration debate going in right now. I am against sanctuary cities and believe that we have laws and processes for legal immigration that should be followed and enforced. Alternatively, I am against deportations that split families and believe strongly the DACA needs to be resolved to allow those individuals who are not here legally because of actions/decisions by others need a pathway to citizenship ASAP. On the other hand, and in specific to your Syria question, but also other war torn countries, we have a responsibility to provide shelter from the storm. We should be allowing refugees to come but there should always be heavy vetting to ensure we know who is coming into the country.

[Hornsby]

Generally, I have serious concerns about the whole immigration debate going in right now. I am against sanctuary cities and believe that we have laws and processes for legal immigration that should be followed and enforced. Alternatively, I am against deportations that split families and believe strongly the DACA needs to be resolved to allow those individuals who are not here legally because of actions/decisions by others need a pathway to citizenship ASAP. On the other hand, and in specific to your Syria question, but also other war torn countries, we have a responsibility to provide shelter from the storm. We should be allowing refugees to come but there should always be heavy vetting.

Thanks...almost full agreement here other than the sanctuary cities.

[Bernie Brewer]

Thanks...almost full agreement here other than the sanctuary cities.

It really pisses me off when I read or see a story, and there have been a few recently, where we are deporting someone who served the country and is being now being deported for some minor offense. The one that really ticked me off was the guy who served two tours in Iraq, serving “his” country, and he came back with an addiction due to his self-medicating for PSTD. He was arrested for a drug offense and since wasn’t here legally, ICE just dumped him across the Mexican border. He was taken from his wife and children. Just stupid.

[Hornsby]

It really pisses me off when I read or see a story, and there have been a few recently, where we are deporting someone who served the country and is being now being deported for some minor offense. The one that really ticked me off was the guy who served two tours in Iraq, serving “his” country, and he came back with an addiction due to his self-medicating for PSTD. He was arrested for a drug offense and since wasn’t here legally, ICE just dumped him across the Mexican border. He was taken from his wife and children. Just stupid.

We COULD sit down and have a beer without breaking into a brawl.

Yeah, it's a real black mark on this nation to allow family's to be separated like that...hindered, if not thousands of similar stories around the country. Disgraceful.

[Bernie Brewer]

We COULD sit down and have a beer without breaking into a brawl.

Yeah, it's a real black mark on this nation to allow family's to be separated like that...hindered, if not thousands of similar stories around the country. Disgraceful.

I never had a doubt. As Redbirds once said to me, either in a PM or a post, most of us probably agree on 90% of things. It’s that other 10% that makes us think the other guy is a complete asshat (this sentence are my words, not his!). Truth is we really aren’t that different but...

[Hornsby]

Just a little something to chew on:

In 2016, near the end of Barack Obama's presidency, the U.S. resettled 15,479 Syrian refugees, according to State Department figures. In 2017, the country let in 3,024. So far this year, that number is just 11. By comparison, over the same 3 1/2-month period in 2016, the U.S. accepted 790.

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/04/12/602022877/the-u-s-has-welcomed-only-11-syrian-refugees-this-year?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

[nullnor]

i think it's a possibility that gas attacks are carried out by rogue factions? i also think that it's possible Syria would want the US to stay as a buffer against Turkey.