[RTS]

WASHINGTON — The United States and European allies launched airstrikes on Friday night against Syrian research, storage and military targets as President Trump sought to punish President Bashar al-Assad for a suspected chemical attack near Damascus last weekend that killed more than 40 people.

Britain and France joined the United States in the strikes in a coordinated operation that was intended to show Western resolve in the face of what the leaders of the three nations called persistent violations of international law. Mr. Trump characterized it as the beginning of a sustained effort to force Mr. Assad to stop using banned weapons, but only ordered a limited, one-night operation that hit three targets.

“These are not the actions of a man,” Mr. Trump said of last weekend’s suspected chemical attack in a televised address from the White House Diplomatic Room. “They are crimes of a monster instead.”


Source

[plantmanky]

What does an air strike do but piss them off? Unless they eliminate them, its smoke and mirrors.

[Real Badman]

Well deserved.

[TheRealThing]

^^ Ask thugs like Assad, Putin and Rouhani to cooperate on a matter and they'll very likely laugh you off. In fact that happened continually during the Obama administration, though none so blatant as when Putin invaded Ukraine and seized the Crimean Peninsula. And given that fact, they've all been allowed to run over everybody from their neighbors to the UN Security Council for the past 8 years, all while the Obama Administration basically through naiveté or stupidity bragged them up about it on national TV. That is when Obama did not feel compelled to appear in the well of the UN himself to set everybody straight, as he did to explain about the video that caused the attack on our embassy compound in Benghazi.

So when Trump stepped to the plate he asked... then he demonstrated through the first attack on Syria that he was not like his predecessor, did not sip hot cocoa and wear mom jeans, nor ascribe to the foregoing administration's idea of "21st Century thinking."

But I digress. This last attack caught them all off guard IMO, because Putin et-al, gambled that the pressure being put on this administration by the rabid chipmunks still lurking about from the Obama administration and the loyal left wing media, would be enough to cause Trump to blink. Wrong. And BTW, this attack was quite a bit bigger. And did anybody other than me notice the media's dogged attempts to say that we had to ask permission from Russia to launch this attack in the first place? I guess in their minds, Russia heads up the 'Global Community' they all long to see come to fruition.

At any rate, first we asked. Then we shoved. Now we've punched Assad in the mouth. Point made. And we'll see now if America has the gumption to retain hold on her own sovereignty.

[Real Badman]

Was reported that Russian SDIs were active in Syria but did not engage allied missiles.

[Pulp Fiction]

The world is a safer place when America has a strong President that will act when needed. When a "red line" is drawn, you have to follow through with what you say you are gonna do or you look weak and just about everything after that is not taken seriously.

The amount of money that the U.S. gives the DoD is not by accident.
The U.S. has the best Air Force & Navy on the planet. We own the Skies & the Seas.
The U.S. has the best technology & weaponry on the planet.
The U.S. has the best ground troops with the Army & Marines on the planet.
The U.S. has a combat experienced Marine General serving as the Sec. of Defense who has proven his military will act.
The U.S. finally has a President that is proud of our military and has shown the world he will use them when needed.


I am a registered Republican. I voted for Trump, but there are some things he says & does that I don't agree with and makes me scratch my head. Nevertheless, Mr. Trump has proven to the world he will use the military to act when needed. The U.S. hasn't even come close to "taking the gloves off" yet. I don't believe that the U.S. needs to be the world's police force, but I do believe certain situations do dictate military actions to let the perpetrators know that type of behavior will not be accepted. The world will never be at peace. Civil wars and nation v. nation conflicts are gonna happen. Acts that have been adopted or declared War crimes/Crimes against humanity, IMO, do justify a military response.

[RTS]

What does an air strike do but piss them off? Unless they eliminate them, its smoke and mirrors.

We shall see. It's certainly better than drawing a "red line in the sand" and doing nothing.

Exactly what would you propose they should have done?

[Granny Bear]

Well, perhaps things could've been done better, but it's hardly "only smoke and mirrors". This may not stop Syria's chemical warfare, but it sure has slowed it down a little. The targets that were hit included their chemical labs and stockpiles. At least those chemicals cannot be utilized now.

[plantmanky]

We shall see. It's certainly better than drawing a "red line in the sand" and doing nothing.

Exactly what would you propose they should have done?

Eliminate them off the map. The stuff they are doing, we fought a world war against in the past.

[RTS]

Eliminate them off the map. The stuff they are doing, we fought a world war against in the past.

How do we do that? Are you proposing boots on the ground? Bombings? What exactly? How exactly?

[plantmanky]

How do we do that? Are you proposing boots on the ground? Bombings? What exactly? How exactly?

Boots on the ground should only be done after we have unloaded are arsenal and are waiting on new batches.