Raising speculation that the US is about to attack Syria again, the White House has issued a statement late this evening accusing the Assad government in Syria of conducting “potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack,” claiming that such an attack would involve the “mass murder of civilians, including innocent children.”
The late night report was extremely light on details, but threatened to make Syria’s government and military “pay a heavy price,” suggesting that the statement was only issued to lay the groundwork for a new round of US attacks on Syrian government targets.
The US last attacked Syria in earnest in early April, firing 49 cruise missiles at a Syrian air base. The attack was carried out despite reports ultimately showing that the US intelligence community found no evidence a chemical weapon attack took place.
The White House statement ignored that revelation, and presented the early April incident as a “chemical weapons attack” just like the one they believe to be imminent. Since the administration is very keen to present what they did in April as justified, it would not be surprising if they did so again.
Such a move would be particularly risky now, coming amid Russian warnings that the US needs to stop attacking Syrian government targets. It also comes just hours after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke with Russia’s Foreign Minister about a ceasefire, which seems a particularly inopportune time to attack.
Who specifically issued the statement? Was it approved by Trump? If not, they need to be fired.
I foubt it is coming from Dunford.
Looks like you’re right. Nobody outside the WH was consulted or knew it was coming. It may be an attempt to distract from the Welt story: https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905578/Trump-s-Red-Line.html
And if Trump did approve it, he should be fired.
The Art Of The Deal… Apply pressure,act like it’s no big deal to take out a battalion and it’s hardware.Sit down and negotiate… America’s back… Thanks Putin,Hillary wouldn’t have done this…USA
You are fantasizing. We are now caught with pants down, as Gulf is consumed with their crisis, and could care less about Assad. So, any Arab or other Moslem allies in Syria left? Except scared witless Jordan. And who are these civilians at risk? US politicians are the ones bring lost. Our military seems to get it. If so, perhaps it is time for someone to tell them some realities.
Go ahead, smart neocons. You are losing Saudi Arabia and Qatar, while Kuweit and Omsn sailed a while back away from the msdness.
And UAE is chirping pleasing sounds — while taking over Yemeni South. Let it all go to pieces — for ss long as we dig our heels in Syria.
No you’re the one fantasizing.How are we losing Saudi Arabia Kuwait and Qatar we got military installations in all those countries…Bianca get off the gas,I know you wish we where broke and desperate for a distraction because we violated a treaty with a neighboring country and got black balled by the world but,thats you’re country not ours.We’re still a very rich country,free to express our mind,can access or Internet without our government censoring the content how about y’all???USA
Thanks Putin??????? Another hare-brained eejit who thinks the Russians “hacked” US elections or “colluded” with Trumps team????
What is wrong with the ‘Muricans these days????
Never said he hacked you hack,he interfered and I’m so grateful it really worked out great for my country.Thanks Putin for helping a Republican get in office Obama didn’t have the heart to unleash our military superiority on our adversaries now thanks to Russia that’s all changed.Who would’ve ever thought y’all would of helped get you’re worst nightmare elected.Hahaha…Make America great again…USA
So when are you going to push yourself away from the keyboard and your idiotic posts, enlist and join in on all the fun? I know, fat chance right?
When I get through with your momma.USA
Yo Eagle – quit sounding like a Turkey – Cowboy up and quit acting/writing like ” The Ugly American”.
Oh I think Hillary would have done it . I thought Trump would not do this . He said he did not want regime change . He said he thought he would be friends with Putin . I can’t imagine Putin being happy with Trump shooting down more Syrian planes . Putin will have to respond He brought enough power to be able too in no small way
Not a happy event for me…. Why attack Assad, and why attack him now…???? Assad is doing a good job of taking out ISIS… Attacking Assad is an ISIS wet Dream cum true….???? Why not attack ISIS…That was the gaol…???? Right…????? If Assad were gone, who would end up in charge….. What would happen…???? ISIS would want it to be their Caliphate…. Nation building is trouble enough……but Caliphate building is A BITCH…. Leave Assad alone…… Bomb ISIS….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The hawks were a bit absent in Hersh’s piece. Everyone except the president were placed in a good light. Is this an invitation to stage a false flag attack or what.
Good grief.
The Administration in Washington lies, lies, lies.
Israel “intelligence”, I am sure. There is no way Israel will just stand by and let Syria remain in one piece. They are already angling around Golan Heights. Well, with the entire Gulf in a mess, and no Sunni NATO — I was wondering what excuse will be found for US to stay in Syria. Just count on neicons to provide a stale but dtill working idiotic excuse. They want to protect innocent children. Is there no way to get these people to acquire some shame? For as long as we have media that bows to them — instead of ridiluling, their “respectability” is intact. Do they care about starting a war? Fussia just tested a long range Bulwva misile, that flew across entire Eurasia, from a submarine to a target on Kamchatka. A message?
Russia also just put the most sophisticated geodetic satellite in the world into orbit. ‘14F150 Napryazhenie’ was officially undisclosed and “clandestine” Russian military launch according to NASA. Nobody knows what the “covert payload” really is. But if it is the geodetic satellite and not a space weapon or EMP-capable, it maps the planet in 3-D in real time – so strikes may be launched with perfect precision. Russia is ready and not afraid of all-out war against the United States. As a matter of fact, they can win.
U.S.Airforce X-37B space plane has been doing this for years.Finally catching up comrade???If by win you mean left standing that’ll be America and NATO as for winners nobody wins.USA
Russia CAN win. They are 3x+ larger including Kazakhstan and Belarus, and technologically superior in some ways that have not been made public. China will back Russia. Europe will not fight and Turkey will side with Iran – wiping out Israel and the Saudis.
“technologically superior in some ways that have not been made public”
If that’s the case, how do YOU know about it?
Where is the US superior to Russia in any military field??? The US is a paper tiger managed by complete buffoons who could not win a battle to save themselves. Russia is smart, pragmatic and has seen the Murder Inc. lose war after war. Go back to sleep…sheeple.
It was a simple question. The guy claimed knowledge of secret technological superiority, and I wanted to know how he has access to Russian secrets.
That has nothing to do with whether or not the US is superior to Russia in any military field (although I’ll note that US forces have occupied Afghanistan for about twice as long as the Russians managed, with about one sixth as many troops killed).
If Russia knew it could win it would act a Russian jet and a Syrian jet both shot out of the sky by members of NATO.Zero allied coalition country jets shot out the sky.You were saying our boys won’t fight and we’re the one’s that are scared.Its like I’m in backwards land NATO with four battalions on Russia’s doorstep,a missile defense shield in Poland,troops in Norway,and shooting down Russia’s and Syrian jets in Syria but,hey we’re scared and we won’t fight keep telling yourself that.USA
Please… the US has always been the consummate loser. It cannot win war’s because it is too easily defeated by more determined foes. Furthermore the US is evil to its core, and always sides with terrorists and imperialists. Russia will make the US look silly in Syria.
Why would you call him comrade? He’s just stating what he believes to be the facts. This isn’t a p*ssing contest. He’s not “sticking” for Russia. I assume he doesn’t want war with Russia. And Russia DOES act like the adult in the room in most circumstances.
What’s funny of course is that the one thing where Trump has certainly committed an impeachable offense is the one thing the Dems and Fake Media love him for it. The Dems are so desperate to impeach him, but attacking the military of another country without an act of war and based only on lies …. that they let him slide on. The proud tradition of Johnson, Clinton, Bush, and Obama continues.
Spot on! You said it all on one paragraph.
Exactly. The Syrian intervention is both unconstitutional and illegal. We are also playing both sides against the middle, with the CIA/Mossad having trained and armed Saudi Wahhabi thugs in Jordan back in 2011 to eventually fight with ISIS and Trump now declaring a no-fly zone over western Syria to protect our “moderate” head-choppers. The middle, of course is the millions of refugees that have been driven from their homes by this totally illegal war.
What the hell are “potential preparations” and what does Assad have against innocent children (as opposed to guilty children?). I never heard about “preparations”, potential or otherwise, involving non-existent chemical weapons the last time round either.
Coming so soon after Hersh’ piece, this sounds like a fast attempt to recapture the narrative under a new landslide of events.
“Keep them dumb and busy”
The whole circus about the Idlib attack was revealed as made up
from whole cloth pretty much immediately of course (potentially with White Helmets
killing their children offstage and shipping them in), but apparently one needs Hersh to penetrate the fog of doofosity.
This is simply absurd. How the $#@& can these idiots possibly give such a public encouragement to AQ or IS to conduct false flag CW attacks on civilians? Any jihadist with a CW will now be looking to kill children publicly for max PR payload….
Any such deaths will be on TRUMPS HEAD…..
Doesn’t matter, Trump will be a one term president. the MIC have got what they want; direct control over the most important branch of the Govt. Trump gets the pay off whatever that is for keeping his end of the bargain.
Next time they will find someone else rich and ignorant in the ways of Washington (starts with Z)
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cfee9237cd6f138b731ed42dcc85dc38d250500cd50e7726e5526e1d5691dc22.jpg
This guy is completely off the rails… 🙁
We only have to hope Putin will be able to reason with Trump . The United States has supported the head chopper for more than 6 years to fight Assad . Now we want to fight Russia So we can gift Syria to AlQaida Al Nusra .for a caliphate . I don’t think Russia or China can let this happen .because they both have a lot of Muslims at home dancing around wanting to get more control there too .
Ignorant Trump should be impeached if he allows this attack to occur on the Syrian military or Assad. Trump is doing this in the interest of Saudi Arabia and Israel and nothing to do with this bogus WMD potential attack. Pure fiction just like the attack last April.
This pushes the Russians to fight the US. Is that the real purpose? Will the US push and push until it gets a fight back?
Why? Likely it is the Wolfowitz explanation, a variety of motives coming together around a policy.
For neocons, it is more of their longstanding pattern of aggression, linking places like Ukraine and Georgia and an Azerbaijan war in the making.
For Trump, it is placating those attacking him from within the national security state, and undermining the narrative of Trump as Putin’s puppet; war is a high price to pay for domestic political gambits, but it would not be the first time.
Russia brought the kind of planes and power that only our F22 fighter planes can fight F16s will be like sitting ducks .
Someone tell Trump to quit looking at CNN. Boy that guy lied his way into the Shi House – didn’t he !
Bottom line…THE US ALWAYS LOSES WARS…unless they are fighting unarmed men, woman, and children…kind of like the Zionist menace in Israel. Russia will make short work of the sheer and complete amateur hour of the US military. Bring it on Yankee’s…your about to be dragged further into the abyss.
If Trump shoots down more Syrian planes and gets us into war with Russia because he wants his moderate head choppers to take over Syria instead of Assad . Then Trumps base of deplorables might agree with the democrats and want to impeach Trump too .
This has Israel written all over it. I am surprised Trump isn’t bombing Gaza as well.