Trump is quoted on Syria “We have a lot of options militarily, and we’ll be letting you know pretty soon. Probably after the fact.”
Trump’s “We” now includes John Bolton:
“Under President Bush, Bolton was among a number of chickenhawks feverishly pushing the lie that Saddam Hussein needed to be stopped right this minute, lest he use his non-existent nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction against us. Bolton was credibly accused of manipulating intelligence. And he told us the Iraqis would greet Americans as liberators, and would quickly exercise their newfound freedom and establish a functional democracy.”
Bolton was as far off base on Iraq as one can be. His position was criminal. He’s a warmonger. There is no reason to think that his foresight has improved or that he even has any skill in that department.
The Trump-Bolton duo continues the American uninvited military presence in Syria, and now promises to launch new aggression over a chemical, chlorine, that has not been explicitly outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention. It’s included in a general way as a toxic chemical if it’s weaponized.
While they consider their military “options”, the question is whether or not they are considering the options and thinking of those on the receiving end, the Syrian coalition: Syria, Iran, Russia and Hezbollah. Trump impetuously and emotionally launched 59 Tomahawk missiles at Syria a year ago, and he got away with it. American forces remain on the ground in Syria, without being hampered or attacked by the Syrian coalition. He is probably way too overconfident in his freedom of action because he views it on a personal basis as a just retaliation or punishment for a heinous crime. However, a military attack by the U.S. is the furthest thing from an act purporting to be an act of justice or enforcement of justice. The rules of international relations are again about to be openly breached by the U.S.
France is now in on this prospective aggression too. Great Britain is also planning to attack Syrian forces. “Britain’s Armed Forces are drawing up options for a joint strike with the US on Syrian forces.” Once again, the West is going full war criminal. They are using chlorine as a pretext for doing what they have wanted to do all along.
The Syrian coalition members have options to respond that they believe are within their “rights” as international state actors. They will choose the times, places and methods. The results may well be escalation against the American presence in Syria or elsewhere or against the interests of France. There is a limit to how much punishment the Syrian coalition will allow to go answered. They have many options covering a broad range. Bolton-Trump are almost surely going to provoke retaliation that will surprise them and cause them to consider further escalation of their own.
For Bolton-Trump to attack Syria again, this time perhaps aiming their missiles directly at the abodes of Assad, his generals, or their forces, is really to launch a new war in Syria. The other side has options too that the blind Bolton-Trump fail to see or understand, and they will be goaded to exercise them.
Regardless of what immediate response the West generates, the aggression of the western states is sure to divide the world further. It is sure to generate long-term splits, realignments, distrust, antagonism and hostility. This aggression is sure to be seen for what it is, a belated last-ditch attempt to prevent Assad from securing a battlefield victory, reuniting Syria and dislodging uninvited foreigners from that land. This aggression will be seen as immense weakness on the part of the West. It will be seen as a sign of the West’s moral bankruptcy and hypocrisy. It is impossible justly to enforce one’s idea of morality at the point of a gun or missiles. Bombing to create “good” out of what the West claims to be as “evil” on the other side is doomed to fail. The very act of force condemns the rationale. The use of violence as a means to enforce “good” becomes an end in itself, an evil end.
8:40 am on April 10, 2018
