By Dana Bash, Jeremy Herb and Barbara Starr, CNN
Updated 1629 GMT (0029 HKT) April 6, 2017
The source said the President had not firmly decided to go ahead with it but said he was discussing possible actions with Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Trump is relying on the judgment of Mattis, according to the source.
The thing is, though, US military is already in Syria. There’s been a very quiet build up of troops there.
Here’s a NY Times article from March 9th that basically states that the US was in the process of “sending an additional [my emphasis] 400 troops to Syria.”
“The United States military has declined to say how many troops it has deployed in Syria. The formal troop cap is 503, but commanders have the authority to temporarily exceed that limit.”
‘“We are preparing logistical and fire support to enable a successful assault on Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of ISIS,” said Col. John L. Dorrian, a spokesman for the American-led command that is fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.”’
So, Trump explicitly overlooked Assad’s prior assaults on his own people and Assad talked about seeing Trump as an ally in the war against ISIS.
Trump decides to blame Obama instead of his own actions empowering Assad.
We’ve sent our people to Syria to help Assad retake Raqqa.
Russia is officially blaming the rebels for the release of chemical weapons (”Russia’s Defense Ministry says the toxic agents were released when a Syrian airstrike hit a rebel chemical weapons arsenal and munitions factory on the town’s eastern outskirts.”)
Trump’s budget and Tillerson’s soft pedaling of the impact on the State Department clearly communication that the administration’s intent is to ‘Use less “soft power,” the cajoling and persuading of allies and enemies, and replace it with the projection of “hard power” by the nation’s military.’
… and now we’re considering retaliation against Assad. I just can’t see this ending well.
U.S. strikes Syrian military airfield in first direct assault on Bashar al-Assad’s government
By Dan Lamothe, Missy Ryan and Thomas Gibbons-Neff April 6 at 9:38 PM
The Washington Post
The U.S. military launched approximately 50 cruise missiles at a Syrian military airfield late on Thursday, in the first direct American assault on the government of President Bashar al-Assad since that country’s civil war began six years ago.
The operation, which the Trump administration authorized in retaliation for a chemical attack killing scores of civilians this week, dramatically expands U.S. military involvement in Syria and exposes the United States to heightened risk of direct confrontation with Russia and Iran, both backing Assad in his attempt to crush his opposition.
Russia condemns U.S. missile strike on Syria, suspends key air agreement
By David Filipov and Dan Lamothe April 7 at 9:49 AM
The Washington Post
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, further claimed that the Syrian government had no chemical weapons and dismissed the Trump administration’s explanation as an excuse to enter the conflict. …
The so-called “deconfliction” channel that Russia suspended was established in 2015 to prevent mishaps, including collisions, after Russia deployed aircraft to a base along Syria’s Mediterranean coastline and began carrying out strikes on behalf of the Syrian regime. It calls for a U.S. colonel at an air base in Qatar and a Russian colonel to man a phone hotline and inform each other of where their countries’ planes are flying.
The arrangement has been far from ideal, however, and U.S. military officials have called in recent months for an expansion of deconfliction talks as Russian and U.S. military aircraft fly in increasingly close quarters over Syrian cities such as Manbij.
Trump considering options for Syria retaliation, source says
Hearseeno 