In the first challenge from a foreign leader/despot, President Trump passed the test.
We don’t yet know the full story of what happened on the ground in Syria after the U.S. bombing – casualties, etc. – but I think we can be sure there were no “innocents” injured or President Assad would have broadcast that quickly.
We knew Trump’s military advisors were solid and that the Pentagon has had military options drawn up and kept up to date for many years. And the tools needed to conduct the bombing were already in position. Still, I didn’t expect such quick retaliation by Trump. The timing, though, was good not just because of the Syrian leader's actions the other day, but to send a message to North Korea and the Chinese as he is meeting with the Chinese leader in Florida and on the eve of his secretary of state's first official visit to Russia.
Trump deserves credit when he earns it and it seems this was handled well in terms of timing, notifications of the appropriate people (Congress and the Russians) and the targeted nature of the bombing. The images that came out of Syria after Assad used chemical weapons against his own people clearly spoke for themselves and told a horrible story in death and consequences of using sarin gas.
Will there be consequences for the U.S. bombing? We will see. There is the expected sabre rattling by Syria and the Russians. But Secretary of State Tillerson is headed to Moscow next week for previously scheduled meetings and everyone is positioning themselves for those talks.
For Trump, today’s another day but yesterday he made the difficult decision that presidents are called upon to make.
We don’t yet know the full story of what happened on the ground in Syria after the U.S. bombing – casualties, etc. – but I think we can be sure there were no “innocents” injured or President Assad would have broadcast that quickly.
We knew Trump’s military advisors were solid and that the Pentagon has had military options drawn up and kept up to date for many years. And the tools needed to conduct the bombing were already in position. Still, I didn’t expect such quick retaliation by Trump. The timing, though, was good not just because of the Syrian leader's actions the other day, but to send a message to North Korea and the Chinese as he is meeting with the Chinese leader in Florida and on the eve of his secretary of state's first official visit to Russia.
Trump deserves credit when he earns it and it seems this was handled well in terms of timing, notifications of the appropriate people (Congress and the Russians) and the targeted nature of the bombing. The images that came out of Syria after Assad used chemical weapons against his own people clearly spoke for themselves and told a horrible story in death and consequences of using sarin gas.
Will there be consequences for the U.S. bombing? We will see. There is the expected sabre rattling by Syria and the Russians. But Secretary of State Tillerson is headed to Moscow next week for previously scheduled meetings and everyone is positioning themselves for those talks.
For Trump, today’s another day but yesterday he made the difficult decision that presidents are called upon to make.
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