Trump weighs Syria options; Russia envoy says 'cannot exclude' war

"Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

The president with the intellect and lexicon of a 7 year old.

What's with the sudden shaky knees?

So you're for more conflict.

He got pulled in, good. The timing of this gas attack is interesting, as it came just a week after Trump said he was going to pull completely out of Syria. For Assad, one could hardly imagine worse timing - almost as though he wanted the US to stay and fight him. A number of pro-Assad hostages, including children kept in cages and paraded around the streets in terror, would have been victims of this attack as well.

Similar timing was used in the previous gas attack. Regarding that attack, General Mattis later said that they had no evidence at all that pointed at Assad.

Maybe somebody pointed this all out to Trump, and maybe he listened. Maybe we all should.

If Russia doesn't want war - doesn't want to be put in a position where war might be a possibility, then it needs to rein in Assad and deal with the chemical weapon situation as a responsible member of the UN. There's no excuse. It's part of the responsibility that comes with backing Assad.

rein in Assad and deal with the chemical weapon situation

It's comments like this that support a 3rd WW. Nothing has been officially verified, so you'd put the world in the hands of Wolf Blitzer?

Just for historical reference - http://www.newsweek.com/now-mattis-admits-there-was-no-evidence-assad-using-poison-gas-his-people-801542

Mattis said at the time of his comments the US did not have evidence that Assad perpetrated the previous attack. He then went on to say:

Mattis says it is clear that Assad's government has weaponized and used chlorine gas in the Syrian civil war.

www.apnews.com/amp/bd533182b7f244a4b771c73a0b601ec5

The Globalists are really pushing for this war with Syria and indirectly with Russia. I hope President Trump doesn’t fall for it as standing against this is one of the reasons he was elected.

Apologies for the dead link. Here is a live link:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.apnews.com/amp/bd533182b7f244a4b771c73a0b601ec5

Mattis says it is clear that Assad's government has weaponized and used chlorine gas in the Syrian civil war.

Syria has vowed to hand over or destroy its entire arsenal by the end of this week, but still has roughly 14 percent of the chemicals it declared to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

In addition, chlorine gas that was never included on the list submitted to the OPCW is now allegedly being used on the battlefield,

So Assad is clever enough to find a loophole. The question is, why would he be so foolish then to use sarin gas in a way and at at time that could only bring him trouble?

DT is consistent in his inconsistency.

He's just such an idiot.

Years from now, after millions of words have been written about him, they will come to the same conclusion.

So Assad is clever enough to find a loophole. The question is, why would he be so foolish then to use sarin gas in a way and at at time that could only bring him trouble?

I'd say the could potentially bring him trouble. Your point is well received though.

One poster recently pointed out that Assad has controlled his populace through fear, like other dictators, and one motivation would be to demonstrate to any potential troyblemakers the horrible fate that awaits them.

Either way, we need the results from international groups before we can make a determination.

So Assad is clever enough to find a loophole. The question is, why would he be so foolish then to use sarin gas in a way and at at time that could only bring him trouble?

Look at what happened before : he used chemical weapons, the US sent some missiles, and... nothing.

Now, he uses chemical weapons again, Trump twitt-threaten bombardment in the next 72 hours, Russia talks of war, and now the attack "Could be very soon or not so soon at all".

Assad knows Russia got his back. Any bombardment that would be bad for his regime, would lead to a Russian reaction, and any bombardment that wouldn't lead to a Russian reaction is not a threat for his regime.

He certainly doesn't think of himself as being in trouble.

All this is bull. Death by bombs, guns, chemical weapons, knives, or whatever, the Syrians die. When people around you die, it doesn't really matter does it?

Just when it’s summer...beach time, I have to stay home and continually watch multi news platforms for the immediate start of WW3. Being in a country with strategist US bases and right next to Russia, and an escalating war between a psychopath and a mafia boss, it’s gonna be a short summer.

chemical weapons were used, without offering details of any evidence.

Sound familiar?

There will have to be some response, Trump cannot back out of it now. To really avoid conflict, Russia should allow some Syrian base to be destroyed, after evacuating everyone, etc.

Russia cannot win a conventional war against NATO, so they will have to use nuclear threats to protect Syria, which will deal a fatal blow to Russia.

"Russia, Syria and its other main backer Iran have said reports of the Douma attack were fabricated by rebels and rescue workers and have accused the United States of seeking to use it as a pretext to attack the Syrian government." The fact that this statement is near the bottom of the article shows how distorted media coverage is in favour of the US position. There are two sides to this story, and people need to hear both sides fairly presented with equal coverage to decide what needs to be done for the common good of all humanity.

Trump will put a few holes in an airstrip again and will call it a day.

zichiToday  09:42 am JST

President Macron of France claimed he had evidence of the chemical attack.

Details?

"Russia cannot win a conventional war against NATO, so they will have to use nuclear threats to protect Syria, which will deal a fatal blow to Russia."

When I hear something like this always comes to mind a couple of questions: Are you invincible? Immortal? Or one can't foresee the clear chances of all out war.

When I hear something like this always comes to mind a couple of questions: Are you invincible? Immortal? Or one can't foresee the clear chances of all out war

Good point. The problem is that such warmongers are safely far away from the battle zones and they are sure that somebody else would fight the war for them. That's the reason why they are so brave.

 Interesting to note that that Assad "uses chemical weapons" only in places where the well equipped terrorebels' video crews are at the ready, and where White Helmets talentless actor troupe is ready to perform.

Exactly what could be said of Putin.

Hardly. Putin does not brag about his readiness to bomb any country he does not like.

Nothing new in this world. "Remember the Main" in 1898 to start a war with Spain, the Gleiwitz incident to start WWII by Nazis, Tonkin Gulf attack to start the bombings of North Vietnam, "Saddam WMD" to start the invasion of Iraq. Now "Assad WMD" to start WWIII?

LEAD FROM THE FRONT TRUMPY, show the way.

Forward he cried as the front rank died(pink floyd, dark side of the moon)

Go get your war but make sure you lead from the front line.

Your generals will yell FORWARD TRUMPY.

Putin does not brag about his readiness to bomb any country he does not like.

He showed a video bombing Florida recently. So he likes the US? And he only brags about his readiness to bomb countries he likes? Thats weird.

The Syria situation could escallate out of Control leading to a conflict between Russia and the US, the results of which would be dire for all..

As an example, take a look at what a limited Nuclear attack upon Tokyo US Embassy, and the Yokosuka Naval base would do:

Tokyo:

http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/?&kt=800&lat=35.6688166&lng=139.7433379&hob_psi=5&hob_ft=9511&ff=50&psi=20,5,1&zm=11

Yokosuka Naval Base:

http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/?&kt=800&lat=35.6688166&lng=139.7433379&hob_psi=5&hob_ft=9511&ff=50&psi=20,5,1&zm=11

One poster recently pointed out that Assad has controlled his populace through fear, like other dictators, and one motivation would be to demonstrate to any potential troyblemakers the horrible fate that awaits them.

Exactly. The chemical attack has 2 messages: one to the syrian people and one to the international community

to the syrian people- we can do ANYTHING we want to you and the international community cannot do anything.

to the international community: we can do ANYTHING we want to and you can't do anything because russia will protect us.

The funny thing is that was what I was thinking as soon as I heard about the attack and then former US Ambassador to Syria Robert Stephen Ford came on to Al Jazeera and said the exact same thing.

Assad knows Russia got his back. Any bombardment that would be bad for his regime, would lead to a Russian reaction, and any bombardment that wouldn't lead to a Russian reaction is not a threat for his regime.

He certainly doesn't think of himself as being in trouble.

Nailed it.

@Strangerland

He showed a video bombing Florida recently. So he likes the US? And he only brags about his readiness to bomb countries he likes? Thats weird

Weird? It's rather a mild reality check warning to the NATO, encroaching to the borders of his country, and to the US hawks, ready to yell happily "Bombs away!!". To invade and destroy countries like Iraq and Libya under completely deceitful pretext, to kill dozens of thousands of people with absolute impunity, no punishment at all - that's weird.   

@Aly Rustom

 The chemical attack has 2 messages: one to the syrian people and one to the international community

Terrorebels' message to the Syrian people: we can do ANYTHING, don't even think about peace with the government.

To the international community: we can do ANYTHING we want to and you can't do anything because the West and Gulf monarchies will protect us.

Asakaze at 12:44:

Putin does not brag about his readiness to bomb any country he does not like.

Asakaze at 1:29

It's rather a mild reality check warning to the NATO

It only took you 45 minutes to shift goalposts.

Sounds like about the average speed for Russians.

Sounds like about the average speed for Russians

You see no difference between one video from Putin and constant fiery speeches from Washington? And again, "a red under every bed?" Why I'm not surprised at all. No, secretary Forrestal, Russians are not coming. But glad to see you have no objections against all other parts of my posts.

Zichi

I didn't see any details of proof that Assad was responsible for this last WMD attack from the links you gave.

Are you suggesting if I use twitter or call the man, he'll provide me with the proof?

Asakaze

Terrorebels' message to the Syrian people: we can do ANYTHING, don't even think about peace with the government.

Terrorebels- another stupid word coined by RT to justify Russian aggression against Syria. Assad and Putin are the real terrorists.

To the international community: we can do ANYTHING we want to and you can't do anything because the West and Gulf monarchies will protect us.

Really? Did the West and the Gulf monarchies protect them? Terrorists Putin and Assad are killing them freely.

Zichi

You made the claim so I assumed you had the information to support it, like usual.

After taking your suggestion and reading the Macron interview, he did say we have proof but did not state any specifics because it hasn't been verified.

US forces have already engaged Russian within Syria....

https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/13/17008446/us-troops-syria-russia-mercenaries-killed

Obama was right in keeping the US out of this mess, and Trump would do well to follow his example (as loathe as he would be to admit it). Let Assad, Russia, Iran, the Kurds, and Turkey sort it out themselves.

Asakaze, this is Russia's Afghanistan mistake repeated. (How's the US doing there now? - some just never learn from history.) Iran will take the prize 'cause they want it the most and have the greatest support. A major question, then, is Iranian-Russian relations. The two countries have never really trusted one another. Of course, Trump can stillscrew things up royally in the short- to mid-term, esp. with the nuclear agreement - but Iran will never align itself with Russia except for extremely short-term benefits. Good luck with that!

I too think we should leave Syria alone, though May, Trump and Macro appear to have their own home agenda's for which a little distraction would be helpful.... (though hopefully not going so far as to start WWW3!).

These tinpot Dictators keep some sort of stability within the region, without them we see Religious nuts like the Islamic extremists coming in, Russia probably realized that and came to the aid of Syria, of course... there's something in it for them too... a port/base within the Mediterranean Sea.

Euronews just had a clip interviewing Damascus citizens. They sure didn't look like they were living in fear of Assad. Looked like any normal street in Europe.

Im gonna start tuning in to this station more. They seem legit. Unlike BBCCNNMSNBCFOX.

US forces have already engaged Russian within Syria....

https://www.vox.com/world/2018/2/13/17008446/us-troops-syria-russia-mercenaries-killed

Good! Hope they kick those Soukas’ teeth in.

Russia is in this because of its alliance with Syria and more so it doesn't want to lose current ground of influence. Russia is fighting out of necessity. Syria is fighting for survival because its country is being chopped up by different other entities and its fate decided by other bigger countries on top of the food chain. The master of the world, the US, on the hand is there for more expansion than it needs. It wants more cakes than the loads of cakes it already had, on the expense of people's lives. But it needs a noble cause and the justification for its ulterior motive. It will never leave Syria and will use whatever means to keep its presence there. It's like rich people getting something they don't need but just because they want it and can easily afford it. If Russia/Syria are the bad guys, the US is the fake gentleman. I don't want to take sides but it's hard to watch. It's like witnessing a bunch of bullies beating one trying his best to fight back to protect himself. It's unsightly.

Meanwhile, next door, an actual undemocratic regime is entering its third week of attacking peaceful protesters, and the silence of the media, and those oh so forcefully proclaiming their support for human rights and the need to intervene against a regime that kills civilians to stay in power, is deafening.

Trump once again limits his options by Fox-fuelled Twitter hastiness. This is an almost perfect situation for his foreign policy; a country that no American cares about, no American wants to die in, against an an enemy that no American wants to fight. But he needs a Saddam / Bin Laden moment to distract from his shambolic presidency, and he's so easily rattled that he might well be sucked into the quagmire to prove that he's really really good on the military thing after all. Which of course, he won't be.

President Trump should not rush to take military action against the evil Assad regime. The war is baddie vs. baddie as former Australian PM Tony Abbot said. The rebels are desperately wanted the US stay in Syria and they want to see the US military action against Syria Assad regime. There will be difficult to verify who was the real culprit of this Chlorine Gas attack on innocent civilians for the CIA and the CIA will get information from the source close to rebel groups. So the information received by the CIA is unreliable and it may trap. The rebels are desperately wanting to win the war against Assad regime and they will use every available methods and tricks to win the war. The US Government should be very careful

The US Government should not ignore how CIA and Government fell into the trap of group of exile Iraqi liars and that costs the US Government trillion of dollar and tens of thousands of the young American lives as well as Iraqi peoples lives. The exile Iraqi group has tricked the US Government into their trap and declare war against Saddam regime.

Saddam Hussein and his family were evil, but the method which used to remove Saddam family was not right and costly. Also the US Government was double crossed by its alliance the French Government and the Germany Government.

The US Government should let the European countries to deal with Assad regime and go out from the middle east as soon as possible before the Arab's gun turn on the US soldiers' back. You can't trust them.

If the Russian can control peace and stability in the Syria and then why not let the Russian take-care of the Syria business. The important thing is ISIS out of the Syria. The EU member countries have to protect themselves from attacking by ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups. The problem of the refugees and undocumented immigrants from poor Islamic nations is the EU problem especially the German Government. The West cannot have every lands and every countries on their side.

If you treat the Russian Government as enemy and then the Russian Government will treat you as an enemy.

The all-out war in Syria is unwarranted and it should be avoided and restraint by both sides. The Syrian peoples and the nation are enough suffering and enough of war. Don't waste on weapons and the money should be used for rebuilding the country.

The USA has been a state of war every single day - in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Niger since Sept. 11, 2001.  The USA has been at war with ISIS for 4 years now and while Obama suggested an air and sea war against the Assad regime a few years ago (Congress and the public didn't like the idea) it was ISIS he initiated attacks on when they started their horrible genocidal shenanigans. Trump in his campaign claimed Obama created ISIS but that's a LIE. Then Spanky Don put on his Muslim ban because of his business interests in the Middle East and his bigotry. So now are which side are we on in the Syrian Civil War - Assad or ISIS or what? We still have troops fighting in Afghanistan after the overthrow of the Taliban and the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and only Christ really knows why. ISIS is involved in Iraq too, after that disastrous and unnecessary Iraq War. We sent Marines to pluck out President Aristide from Haiti, we send them back there for quake relief and such, and there's a UN peace-keeper force in Haiti for all it's worth. NATO intervened in the Libyan Civil War to depose Moammar Quadaffy who always was a terror-mongering trouble-maker. Spanky Don howls for war with NK and acts like a school yard bully. He wants Guard troops at the Mexican border because he's embarrassed that the world knows that he likes to be SPANKED by a porn star. Now he's beating his chest like a gorilla but Trumpyboy is Putin's puppet and he won't hit Syria again if Putin doesn't say the word, and even if he does all that TNT will be wasted on an empty airfield again. Donald Douchebag Traitor Trump is just absolutely pathetic and worthless as can be.

expatApr. 14 02:24 pm JSTTrump will back down when he's threatened with Russian kompromat. Or invited to tea with Vlad and Bashir.

Or when Putin yanks on his leash or blackmails Trumptraitor.