If Trump’s latest missile attack on Syria satisfies him that he has acted strongly and effectively against past and future chemical warfare, and if that was his only and narrow aim as James Mattis has suggested and as Theresa May has said, then he now actually has an enhanced power to withdraw from Syria. He can claim that he did what had to be done, and that he can always do it again. But if Trump maintains a residue of ill-will toward the “animal” Assad, and if people like Bolton and Haley and countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel keep … Continue reading What Do the Missile Attacks Mean?