US military has launched more than 50 missiles aimed at Syria

[Fastback]

I generally support Trump and his gang but...

The attack on the Syrian airbase was fruitless IMO, you call their buddies to announce your intentions and all of a sudden, all the high value targets are moved... and we still send 60,000,000 worth of hardware to destroy about a million bucks worth of airport infrastructure...

The Russians could have that airport back up and running in hours after such a lame attack.

Either stay the fuck out of it, or go in with intent of doing some real damage, not just to send some bullshit message.

mardyn

It seems there could be some angles to this besides the obvious. Now our missile launchers are moving toward N Korea...so a lot of posturing happening. (Plus it was a planned as a 0 casualty scenario hitting the runway...warnings etc.) Also, notice how the left is rejoicing about it? After winning some favor with the left, maybe some of their stonewalling will relent and Trump can finally have bipartisan cooperation on some key issues in the works or coming up in congress.

[mardyn]

^^ I'll agree... there are always angles other than the obvious, especially to us out here in the general population.

mardyn

[D. Lil]

Yeah, Assad would have to be pretty stupid to use chemical weapons when he is winning the civil war. I believe the Russians on this one. I just hope there is a bigger picture we aren't seeing that would justify framing him.

[SBFORDTECH]

Yeah, Assad would have to be pretty stupid to use chemical weapons when he is winning the civil war. I believe the Russians on this one. I just hope there is a bigger picture we aren't seeing that would justify framing him.

John McCain has the scoop.

[SBFORDTECH]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNITED_STATES_SYRIA_MILITARY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-04-10-15-16-17

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A senior U.S. official says the United States has concluded that Russia knew in advance of Syria's chemical weapons attack last week.

The official says a Russian-operated drone flew over a hospital in Syria as victims of the attack were rushing to get treatment.

Hours after the drone left, a Russian-made fighter jet bombed the hospital in what American officials believe was an attempt to cover up the usage of chemical weapons.

[CWO]

a Russian jet bombed a hospital?

[Strychnine]

a Russian jet bombed a hospital?

From what I remember seeing, it was only "Russian" (Su-22) in that it was bullt there years ago.


(One of our resident aviation gurus might need to correct this, but...)
When used by Russia they were Su-17s but when exported later they were Su-22s. Russia stopped flying the -17 in 1998. They -22s are still flown by Syria, however.

[CWO]

Ah.

In that case Assad gassed his own people, then blew up the hospital that was treating those first bombed people? To cover up the evidence?

[cyclonescott]

I don't know, with the track record for lying that the US government has, how we should believe anything that we are told.

[CWO]

Scott Adams again

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/159418166356/trusting-your-government-in-a-time-of-war

[46Tbird]

Why would Assad gas anyone?

If he wanted 72 Syrian people dead, that's just a little bit of ammunition, and the international community wouldn't bother responding to him killing a few of his own people. Awful, yes, but not going to get a response in a country engaged in a hardcore civil war. Break out the WMD and you get a response.

I really have no idea what's going on or what to make of it. I smell bullshit though.

[CWO]

Why would Assad gas anyone?

If he wanted 72 Syrian people dead, that's just a little bit of ammunition, and the international community wouldn't bother responding to him killing a few of his own people. Awful, yes, but not going to get a response in a country engaged in a hardcore civil war. Break out the WMD and you get a response.

I really have no idea what's going on or what to make of it. I smell bullshit though.

It's bullshit, no doubt. Then you ask yourself about the Russian narrative being pushed by the Dems this whole time. When Hillary Clinton wants more of what Trump is doing, I worry.

[Broncojohnny]

Why would Assad gas anyone?

If he wanted 72 Syrian people dead, that's just a little bit of ammunition, and the international community wouldn't bother responding to him killing a few of his own people. Awful, yes, but not going to get a response in a country engaged in a hardcore civil war. Break out the WMD and you get a response.

I really have no idea what's going on or what to make of it. I smell bullshit though.

Supposedly we tracked the Syrian plane leaving the airbase, dropping the chemical weapons and then returning to the airbase. That is why the airbase was the exclusive target of the attack. With that in mind, I think the attack was a test to see how Trump would react. I think Trump knew this and made a statement with his attack.

His statement was "You cavemen blast the shit out of each other all you want but we won't stand by while you try to become the next Hitler".

I think it was the appropriate response considering we really don't want to get involved in the civil war beyond supplying a few weapons and the obvious collateral involvement resulting from our attacks on ISIS.

[juiceweezl]

Supposedly we tracked the Syrian plane leaving the airbase, dropping the chemical weapons and then returning to the airbase. That is why the airbase was the exclusive target of the attack. With that in mind, I think the attack was a test to see how Trump would react. I think Trump knew this and made a statement with his attack.

His statement was "You cavemen blast the shit out of each other all you want but we won't stand by while you try to become the next Hitler".

I think it was the appropriate response considering we really don't want to get involved in the civil war beyond supplying a few weapons and the obvious collateral involvement resulting from our attacks on ISIS.

This 100%. I think the rest of the world had 8 years of pushing the USA around in many different capacities. Along the way Iran, N Korea, Asad, etc. grew more powerful. Now, there's a new guy in charge, and they haven't figured out the new rules for the game they want to play. I think this was definitely a test to see what happens. I wish Iran would grab some sailors again because there wouldn't be an apology coming this time unless it was written on the warhead of a missile.

[CWO]

I have yet to hear a single reason Assad would gas his people, other than "he is crazy".