So, that’s what he’s been talking to Russia about, these past few months! A secret plan for peace in Syria! What a visionary pair, Putin and Trump! Anybody else smell Peace Prize?
Telling the Russians beforehand obviously wasn’t the right thing to do.
It’s a legitimate question. You don’t bomb a country because you’re mad at them. You’re supposed to have a purpose.
Were we warning Assad not to use chemical weapons? Warning him not to attack rebels? Trying to oust him from power? Trying to get the Russians to withdraw from Syria?
What’s our goal here?
It’s a test by Putin to see how the new Pres responds to a modest ‘international crisis’. Putin has done Trump a favour by delaying the ‘crisis’ and keeping things simple.
Kind of helps it comes after the US blew 200 civilians into small pieces - lots of images of pieces of pregnant women and small children.
Thank God everyone is so concerned for the people of that country and their lives aren’t international bargaining chips…
Good questions. It’s a safe bet Trump didn’t give that much thought.
Attacking a military base where Russians are stationed without giving them advance warning would have been a worse idea.
without warning? Like all of this isn’t choreographed by the rules of Welcoming the New President?
That was my legitimate answer. I honestly think it was a splashy warning. Probably to a large degree playing to the home audience.
Then don’t make it a target. Really, they should have just done what they tried to do to Saddam in Mar. 2003: get intelligence on where he is and drop a bomb on that place. Even if it misses, it is a very real deterrent to Assad.
Not directly targeting foreign leaders is an executive order, one that Trump might want to pointedly consider reversing.
…if you wanted to start a nuclear war by next Monday, midweek tops.:rolleyes:
The Donald himself seems to think it’s a possibility.
Well the Magical Cleanup Crew is busy right now in Mosul; making it all look good as new with a fresh coat of paint.
But I’m sure they’ll soon get round to un-tomahawk-missiling the air base.
It is very difficult to get and simultaneously decipher/analyze SIGINT or other ISR that would allow the pinpointing of a particular individual on relatively short notice. It is even more difficult when trying to get accurate information about a high level target like Assad, who fearing Israel, the rebels, and ISIL, has likely been maintaining some fairly decent forms of security and protected movement to prevent such an easy targeting.
The other major downside is that if the U.S. were to kill Assad directly, then it also bears some responsibility for everything that happens afterwards (a la Libya). If the Assad regime collapsed without him, there would likely be genocide in Latakia where the Alawites would try to hold the line against Al Qaeda and Sunni rebels and the possibility of ISIL making major gains from all the places where the Syrian Army would retreat or collapse. If the Syrian Army and many of the other mercenary forces fighting for Assad collapsed, then ISIL could get a fresh infusion of arms and equipment, besides gaining ground.
You don’t think there are Russians in the vicinity of Assad himself? So you’re back to same situation; do you kill a bunch of Russian soldiers in a surprise attack or do you give them advance warning knowing they’ll pass it on to the Syrians?
It’s a tough question with no obvious good answers. But it’s the kind of decision Presidents are expected to deal with.
Lets see, . S*hould we take action that will very likely lead to a shooting war against a country with 5,000 nukes, most of which are poised to be launched at us within minutes on a good day.? *
Nope, not a tough question at all.
I am holding a strong belief that this was something the two “bestie superpower buds” had set in place beforehand. We fruitlessly hit an airbase in Syria to “look tough on terror”, Russia is made well aware of it beforehand, Putin denounces it in the media wink, wink, nudge nudge and Americans get to feel like they’ve done something…unlike that pansy Obama.
Why? The Turks shot down a Russian plane for crossing into a smidge of their terrain and now Putin and Erdogan are besties.
Which of Assad’s daughters did Trump kill?
:dubious:
Says a source on Twitter who is checks an artist in Canada?