In a Twitter screed directed at Russia, President Trump indicated that US missile attacks against Syria “will be coming,” and admonishing Russia to “get ready” if they think they can shoot the missiles down. In this comment, he further declared Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it.”
Trump has long expressed opposition to “telegraphing” US military moves. This is raising criticism about today’s announce that he’s literally doing that very thing, although US officials have effectively been telegraphing an attack on Syria since the weekend.
Trump followed that Tweet with another an hour later declaring “our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War.” He said there is “no reason for this,” and said it would be very easy to improve ties, punctuating it curiously with “stop the arms race?”
Which wasn’t the end either. A little over an hour after that, President Trump declared “much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation,” blaming President Obama and Robert Mueller for it.
Despite Trump’s suggestion that hostility toward Russia isn’t by design, the AP is reporting that Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo is telling senators that the “soft US policy” toward Russia is over.
While the US relationship with Russia has been getting worse and worse for months, the upcoming Syria strikes seem to threaten to make the situation far worse. The US attack is using an alleged chemical weapons strike Saturday in Douma as a pretext, with Trump vowing to make Syria “pay the price,” along with Russia and Iran for supporting Assad.
Both Syria’s Red Crescent (This has been retracted, it is incorrect.) and Russia’s Defense Ministry have been in Douma already, saying they found no evidence of chemical weapons use. The US and its allies resisted Russia’s call for an investigation at the UN, apparently unwilling to allow that to play out before they have a chance to parlay the allegations into a new war.
Russia isn’t taking the threats of attack lying down, however. They’ve begun jamming US drones flying over Syria, and have threatened to shoot down incoming US missiles. Perhaps most significantly, Russia is sending their military police into Douma, likely to keep the US from blowing up evidence for future investigations.
With the US and Russia both engaging in military actions inside Syria, often at cross purposes, the risk of direct conflict has always been there. It seems, however, that this new US attack is the most serious threat yes to start a direct US-Russia war, with no sign cooler heads are going to prevail.
And to think one short week ago everyone was giddy over Trump saying we were getting the f**k out.
The man is a bloody menace…
Justin, of all people, said it best- Stupid. Crazy. Coward.
F**K TRUMP!
From RT quoting former British MP George Galloway:
“First of all the tweets from President Trump is undoubtedly the most disturbing statement ever made by any US president and calls into question the very sanity of the person issued it,” Galloway said.
“The world is watching on in horror even in the countries Britain and France that have already indicated they wish to join the putative American strike against Syria. We are on the point of what could develop into World War Three due to the unhinged, juvenile actions of a manchild.”
Galloway went on to urge Washington officials to take matters into their own hands and impeach the out-of-control president.
“I believe that the US cabinet, which has the power to do so under the 25th amendment to the US constitution, must now declare that the author of that tweet is no longer fit to discharge their duties and should be removed from office.”
https://www.rt.com/uk/423841-trump-syria-missile-galloway/
Skywalker:
Isn’t it odd that the Dems. are so obviously silent, in all of this? If there was any altruism at all (in the political sense), we would see some leadership from somewhere but the fact remains there is none because both parties support the same agenda: US hegemony and exceptionalism.
Bush Jr. should have been nailed, Obama should have been nailed and Trump should be nailed. (We can go further back to the Clintons and beyond as well…)
As much as ‘impeachment’ sounds good, on the surface, the reality is, Trump is following orders by the very same people he has appointed. (!)
(And the same ‘deep state’ that controls all Presidents, regardless of party, is ever present.)
So, you cut off one head of the hydra and several heads remain.
And we have no Heracles…
best-dv
“both parties support the same agenda: US hegemony and exceptionalism.”
You forgot Zionism!!!
I kinda make that assumption in my remarks but point taken. 🙂
England ,France Russia and China all our telling Trump to wait on proof . But don’t act anymore with out absolute proof . Last I heard Trump said he will maybe attack later . Russia could make both of those aircraft carriers disappear in the first 15 minutes of a Russian attack . That is what a Russian general told Medvedev when he was president of Russia and I suppose Putin still has that same general .
Aircraft carriers are very grand. They are also vulnerable, especially when they are allowed to be anywhere in the world.
That would not help. Pence is next in line, none of the Republicans has a clue about what peace even means, and the Hillary-Dems are still frantically putting blame on Russia, especially since Obama expelled the Russian diplomats and stole their property just after Trump won the POTUS election. They would do no better, even Bernie is a warhawk.
As Justin said in his 4/9 column, based on “character, personality, and intelligence: Trump is simply not fit to be President.” Trump bloviates, but he doesn’t think. The world is facing the most serious threat of war between the United States and Russia in decades and the leader of the USA is crazy, stupid and a coward.
The most dangerous thing about Trump is that he is belligerent, pathologically self-centered and delusional. He is insecure because he is a beta male trying to pass for an alpha male. He threatens and fires people who challenge him with complicated ideas.
Trump has surrounded himself with sycophants so long that Trump really believes that anything he says is true if he says it loud enough and fires anyone who disagrees. That is how he became delusional.
If Trump’s military aide carrying the football has orders to check with Kelly before giving Trump the launch codes, we may survive.
and the sorry thing is that Hillary would probably have already pulled the trigger. Same monster – two heads.
That’s the best picture of Trump I’ve seen.
The destruction of evidence is in violation of the law and international law. The behaviour and utterances of Trump are unstatesmanlike. He sounds frustrated and deluded. Such leaders constitute a great danger to the world and should be removed from office, although I must add that a levelheaded statesman such as Russia’s Putin will be difficult to find in America today. America at present is governed by a Maffia like gang of thugs.
The last month’s ridiculous lies in England have made it easier to have these evidence-free accusations and bringing in the gang members (UK, France) to pretend this means there is truth to the allegations is the next step. “French president Micron(sic)” has now claimed he has evidence of the crime. Perhaps he has also tested the novichok in Salisbury!
We say the neoconservatives have captured Trump’s thinking and that Trump is now the tool of the deep state and Israel. However, on occasion the Trump of the 2016 campaign,–the Trump with the promises to disengage from the Middle East– comes out. Either Trump has been literally captured and drugged, or he is mad, with two personalities residing within one brain. If John Kennedy had not been a strong enough leader to take command and override the opinions of those who wanted to go to war over Cuba we might not be here today. If Trump cannot bring himself to the level of leadership of John Kennedy there is a vision of many graves waiting to be dug,, and many Americans may be occupying those graves.
Trump is different . I believe he mistakenly responded to one false flag gas attack now he threatening to respond to another false flag gas attack . Trump is likely very misinformed . However England France Russia and China are begging Trump to stop and lets investigate before we start a war this time . I think if Trump finds out these were false flag gas attacks he will act differently . Learning this would not have made any difference to our last 3 or 4 presidents , because they had a NWO agenda . Trump may not have that same agenda .
When did England or France ask the USA to wait?
There should be major anti war protest in DC and Ottawa, I’d make a trip from Alberta.
Think of it this way– and be frightened: The only sane person in the group is a guy with the nickname ” Mad Dog”.
Some logic:
I guess we’ll get to see how those S-400 missile defense systems hold up against simultaneous missiles launched from various positions from a multitude of different platforms. Assad shouldn’t have ever been gullible enough to believe Russia could protect him from committing war crimes against his people and not have to pay the price.As usual the Zombie enemy sympathizers on this site are all cheering for Russia and predicting a world war it’s so entertaining. Some of these mindless morons are even predicting China will risk war with the nuclear powers of the free world to protect a dictator in Syria for Russia,you can’t make this stuff up. Let this be a lesson Russia there’s no guarantee when you help someone get control of the world’s most powerful military and most lethal nuclear arsenal that they will listen or feel obligated to honor any agreement made. Next time you interfere in a democratic societies elections make sure the candidate isn’t from the party that’s former President helped cause the collapse of the U.S.S.R. Keep meddling it’s helping expose your operatives,it’s helping expose your tactics and best of all it’s helping to destroy your economy and leading to your assets destruction.Have fun fighting the world Russia I’m sure China’s sending warships as we speak to help defend you…Hahaha. …
You are nothing if not a sick f-ck.
Have a good day and remember: don’t look up at the nuclear flash, ’cause you will have a very bad day…
Peace-DV
It’s going to be a surprisingly scorching day in St.Petersburg soon. ..All the best D.V…God Speed
If so, it will be a scorching day across the entire US also. Have you even heard of MAD?
pathetic.
I have to ask… Are you a democrat or republican? Or some strange combination of both? It is very difficult to tell…
No President or party helped cause the collapse of the Soviet Union. Kermit the frog could have been president at that time and the Soviet Union would still have imploded. And again, Clinton would have been worse for Russian relations and we’d probably be shooting at each other by now.
You’re showing your True Colors Comrade..
Why do you use a term that is not only associated with Russia (Comrade), but one that is also used by the American military for themselves?
Why out of all the things I typed is that the only thing you can come up with to criticize?
Because in a one sentence post, there wasn’t much to discuss?
…..and because I always correct the misconception by posters that “comrade’ equates to Russian. Why do you have a problem with that?
Have you even bothered to read the reams of info. on the 1990s- the USA was even proud of its invasive/destructive behavior. After the “implosion” , Russia could have been accepted and helped as a new nation, but no, the USA had to be the only superpower and ensure there was no peace, which most people wanted, all over the globe. NATO was no longer needed, with no “commie threat”, so why enlarge it an encircle Russia?
No doubt we helped it along but I tire of people giving anyone(raegan)credit for the Soviet demise and/or the end of the cold war. And since its collapse we certainly took the wrong approach but I didn’t say differently.
The world’s future is in good hands with Bonk, Pomp and Nikki in the crew and Trump’s firm hand on the tiller of the ship of state.
Meanwhile Congress is busy with more important stuff. “Grilling” Zuckerberg on whether aunt Dolly has an expectation of privacy for her secret apple fritter recipe she posted on Facebook.
You can’t make this stuff up……….
Yes it has nothing to do with Cambridge Analytical ,it’s funny how people like yourself are quick to embrace Edward Snowdon as a hero over privacy rights yet, are pretending just because it’s the Russians stealing data on millions of Americans it’s ok. There’s a word for people like you it starts with an H.
Nope. If you are posting stuff on Facebook and complaining about privacy you are just stupid. Has nothing to do with the Russians, Snowdon or anything else.
In a recent tweet, Trump backpedaled on the timing of an attack. There’s still a chance we can make another big war not happen… I called all my reps yesterday to demand investigation and no further aggression without a declaration of war.
“with no sign cooler heads are going to prevail.” Finally, we did get at least one sign of that. See below. But so far, most of my reps, even supposed progressives, have issued statements declaring Syria’s govt did a chemical attack without the need for actual evidence. Very dangerous.
“if they think they can shoot the missiles down” – Maybe the S400 can, maybe not. The Russians can definitely blow up any ships that launch those missiles, though. Notice that’s not what Trump dared them to do.
“The Russians can definitely blow up any ships that launch those missiles, though”
And you know this how?
The reason I’m asking is because Russia has had precisely one publicly disclosed naval engagement since World War Two, in which it sank a 30-year-old Georgian “fast attack craft” the size of a yacht.
Russia did fly into outer space first and has had a long history of developing superior weapons . So it is foolish to bet their missiles are no good . When Putin says they can not be stopped
Exactly they got to space first but, whose nation put a man on the moon 1st? And they had a head start.
A lot has happened since then. Putin has warned the USA since 2004 and he is not bluffing now. Many of the developments are to be seen online. “Listen to us now” he said on March 1. “Russians are slow to saddle up, but they ride exceedingly fast”, as the old saying goes. There is a limit even to Putin’s patience.
My question intended to be narrow and technical: Why does Eric believe that the Russians “can definitely blow up any” US ships that launch missiles at Syria?
“Definitely” is a very, um, definite statement. To the best of my knowledge, current US ship defenses and current Russian anti-ship weaponry have never faced the test of actual combat with each other.
Have we had any significant naval engagements since WWII?
A few that come to mind would be the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, al Qaeda’s attack on the USS Cole, and an Iraqi pilot’s attack on the USS Stark. The US Navy’s largest surface engagement since World War II so far has been Operation Praying Mantis in 1988, during which US forces sank or damaged half of Iran’s fleet including a frigate at a cost of one helicopter.
When several warships stormed into the black sea after Russia attack Georgia . Russian president Medvedev phoned his commander And nervously asked now what can we do ? The commander’s reply was don’t worry ” If those ships cause trouble here I can make them disappear ” . I think it is likely the commander knew what power he had .
Wow, sorry. I had no idea that you were able to listen in on communications between the Russian president and his military commanders. That certainly explains things.
Ok, I should have said they will at least know which ships launch missiles and have the means of attacking them.
Any threat by us and the UK in the Middle East is always about Iran.
Russia was invited in to help the Syrian Arab Army against “rebels” as an ally of long standing by the elected president Bashar al- Assad. The USA has pretended to fight ISIS but armed and aided forces opposing the president of a sovereign nation. It has no legal right to be there, only aggression and violence against those it has decided need to be removed. How is this still allowed? Has nobody noticed the anniversary 15 years after Colin Powell’s successful effort to lead the “coalition of the killing” into Iraq after years of terrible sanctions on the Iraqi people? Is Iraq now better off? Libya? Somalia? Afghanistan? How does this aggression help the US people, or even Israel, the only possible beneficiary, and even then it is only because of the paranoid fear Netayahu demonstrates against Iran?
It’s not fear. It’s a desire to be free of any meaningful resistance to Israel’s expansionism