Last week’s US attack on Syria has led to soaring tensions, particularly with Russia. US-Russia relations were already at this worst point since the Cold War, and the attack made them dramatically worse. It has proven, however, to be politically convenient for Trump.
Eric Trump, the president’s son, argued that the attack had finally proven that Trump wasn’t secretly in league with Russia. He went on to insist that the president would not be intimidate by Russia’s warning that further attacks could lead to war, and that he would act if Russia dared to “cross us.” This does not appear to be just an idle, one-off comment by a relative either.
Other analysts, including a Republican strategist, are saying roughly the same thing, that the Trump Administration can point to the attack on Syria, and the huge worsening of tensions with Russia, as proof he was never cozy with them in the first place.
Indeed, there is already speculation that this is going to be an important part of his defense in ongoing federal probes alleging Russian interference on his behalf in the 2016 election. Obviously there wasn’t serious evidence of the election allegations in the first place, meaning a major focus will be on public opinion. To that end, picking a fight with Russia by attacking Syria could be ultimately a big PR move.
Shall we all just get over the domestic partisan politics and the notion that Trump had the slightest clue what he was babbling on about in his campaign speeches.
What’s wrong with Americans when they can’t figure out the obvious on Trump? Is it some kind of patriotic respect for the president, even though this one is an asshole?
Even if he didn’t have a clue he was remarkably consistent on things like getting out of interventionism and specifically out of supporting any actions of which Islamist organizations might be the beneficiaries.
There was no logical reason for Trump to alienate so much of his own party over this matter when others who’ve done so have always been pushed to the margins. He just didn’t need it.
I believe it’s much more likely he simply caved in when faced with all the instruments of state that would could be used against him and the mass insubordination in federal agencies.
How can you relate to other humans when you are having so much difficulty understanding what Trump did to get himself elected.
He was the anti-establishment and to accept that truth leads to all the conclusions you are missing.
If he seemed like a foolish person who had no idea on what he was talking about, it’s because he is.
In any case, the US plans for war with Syria and Iran are much bigger than Trump. He will be informed and educated on what he needs to know in due course.
Trust me. I haven’t been wrong on Trump or the US plans for war since any of this started. Or just go back to spinning your wheels believing in Raimondo.
“Trust me. I haven’t been wrong on Trump or the US plans for war since any of this started.”
Going back to the months where you kept telling everyone that Trump couldn’t possibly win and to prepare for President Clinton, I’m hard put to think of a single time you’ve been right on any of it.
Haha, what a dodge Thomas. Being wrong on Trump becoming president is about as pertinent to my comments as the fact that my dog didn’t eat carrots when I bet my wife he would. I was wrong and my reputation with my wife and dog has been severely compromised.
I was right in telling Raimondo he’s full of bullshit and I had to listen to you berate me for the ideas I put to him. I was right on Russia hacking and you were wrong. I was right on Obama not tapping Trump tower phones and you were wrong. I was right on Trump’s phony idea of better US/Russia relations and you were wrong. Let’s get together and think up some more when you’re not so angry!
Not sure why you think I’m “angry.”
So far, there’s still been precisely zero evidence of “Russian hacking” made publicly available.
Susan Rice has admitted to the Trump wiretapping.
To the best of my recollection, I never expressed an opinion on “Trump’s phony idea of better US/Russia relations” except for the generic “believing anything Trump says is a really dumb idea.”
“Obama tapped Trump tower” and “Susan Rice has admitted to the Trump wiretapping” are two wildly different things. The former is your wildest libertarian dreams. The latter the other party’s lame attempt to defuse another Trump lie.
Why are you trying to put a Trump favouring spin on so many issues? This is antiwar.com and not your country’s domestic politics that all the mutts have been conned into that’s diminishing the real cause. It can’t even be used as a libertarian motivated excuse anymore.
Get with the program. Trump is already leading the world dangerously close to world war on at least two fronts.
“Why are you trying to put a Trump favouring spin on so many issues?”
The next time I try to put a Trump favoring spin on anything will be the first time.
It has nothing to do with “libertarian motivated.” It has to do with the facts (and libertarians are anti-Trump in any case).
“Rice and the FBI have both confessed publicly to wiretapping Trump’s campaign personnel.”
And Obama hasn’t confessed, nor did he do it. But that’s too fine of a distinction for you to accept. So let’s not bother debating it.
The spirit of the effort that both Nater and I and some others are trying to impress on Americans is that it’s all to do with the evil of Trump and the necessity of ending his reign of terror. And that’s just not your spirit. Not that you haven’t expressed some sympathy with the effort but that the libertarian cause is your schtick, to the detriment of all else.
Do you see a rise in the libertarians’ fortunes? I don’t, I see a coming of a realization that Trump led a spirit of change the people were demanding toward socially responsible government and also toward moderate socialist change, even though they would never recognize it as that. And Trump was a phony. But they aren’t going to depart from that desperation and need so there’s no future in the wind for libertarians.
And fwiw, there’s future in the wind for libertarians if they can modify their nonsense to make it into what the people are asking for. But they better do it soon because the void is going to be filled by somebody like Sanders.
“there’s future in the wind for libertarians if they decide to stop being libertarians and give up having any principles at all in favor of chasing after whatever hallucination Don happens to be having today.”
Fixed, no charge.
And thanks, but no thanks.
Very Orwellian article. Trump needs no ‘proof’. The author got duped by the new McCarthyites who had a tantrum when their war-criminal Hillary lost. All they could think of doing was to demonize Russia. I can’t believe antiwar.com pushes this neoliberal McCarthyism. Ironic, considering Hillary received millions in bribes to approve the transfer of 20% of our uranium assets to Russia:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html?_r=0
And the Podesta Group, founded by John Podesta, took money from Russia’s largest bank, Sherbank, just last year, to lobby for a lessening of sanctions:
https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=F137350&year=2016
It is a PR move and it worked. Now the WH controls the narrative. Unfortunately apparently to only way to do so is war and more war.
If Trump & Putin were actually working together, this would be a smart diversion, while also giving the MSM, Neocons and Liberal hawks something they’ve committed themselves to applauding, while continuing to make a show of going in opposite directions on Syria for the next few months.
But if that were really the case, they would never have made it this easy to trace contacts between Russians and Trump associates in the first place, certainly not Flynn. Even if most of Trumps campaign team was too dumb & clumsy anticipate such things, the Russian would have been slick and taught them to play it cool the first few months until Trump had time to make more key appointments and purge skeptics from the FBI & Intelligence services.
the attack on the airport didn’t do much damage only one fighter jet cover was damaged that’s the pictures all the Arabic news channels including,Aljazeera and Al Arabia have showed so far and the airport was operating the very next day and no 20% air power was damaged as claimed by US, what’s so funny, the US is threatening if any more chemical attack they will bomb again, now isn’t napalm and phosphoric bombs are also forbidding just like the chemical bombs, the very next day they were using napalm and phosphoric bombs why didn’t the US bombed again, the way i see it, it was a false flag.
Yes, the little dead babies Trump was going on about understand completely.
How sad that people are seeing this as a positive or having a sigh of relief instead of what it really is- a big opportunity for friendly relations lost.
One wonders what would have happened if Flynn hadn’t been forced out for no good reason.
Here we are, past the era where war serves political ends between states, or even economic ones, now it’s sunk to war abroad to serve internal public relations needs.