Posted on 04/10/2017 6:33:43 PM PDT by BenLurkin
U.S. officials say they are reaching the consensus view that Assad was simply acting out of desperation. The embattled Syrian leader is facing a major rebel offensive in Idlib province, led by radical Islamic groups, that his depleted and exhausted army is ill-equipped to counter by conventional means. Chemical weapons were a response of cold-blooded convenience, they believe.
That Trump and his team couldn't initially decide what may have motivated the strike complicated the decision-making on how to move forward, one administration official said, but "not to the point of stopping us from doing anything.”
...Aides and friends say the lack of clarity seemed to worry Trump, who is impatient and has sometimes expressed distrust of the intelligence community, while he faced his first military test.
"No one really knew exactly why," a senior administration official said Saturday. "And Trump wanted to know why.”
Trump continued to ask questions about Syria's motive even after the strike, mentioning the lack of a clear motivation to friends and aides at Mar-a-Lago, according to people who spoke to him.
...
While many Syria experts in Washington endorse the official consensus that Assad is desperate to fend off even a weakened rebel opposition, they are still entertaining other theories.
... They include the possibility of a rogue military commander — perhaps loyal to Iran, which has sent troops and funding to prop up Assad — was trying to sabotage the possibility of a U.S.-Russia-Assad alliance that could isolate Tehran.
Another is that Assad was trying to psychologically terrorize his opposition through a so-called demonstration effect. This school of thought holds that “he’s showing the rebels, ‘I can get away with this,’” Salem said.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Assad had everything to lose and nothing to gain by the chemical attacks.
Huh? The article explains that he had plenty to gain.
Past performance by the U.S. gave reason to believe he had little to lose.
He only had everything to lose if you believe Trump should have done what he did.
In Assad’s mind the ISIS is embedded in the community. You know for a fact that terrorists hide among the innocent populations.
I did not say you had to. I'm selling tinfoil though. Want to buy any of that?
marktwain: Past performance by the U.S. gave reason to believe he had little to lose.
Dunno why anyone would be surprised that Assad used chem weapons on Idlib. He herded defeated al Qaeda there and now he’s eliminating them Auschwitz fashion. This is something like the seventh gas attack in Syria since 2013.
Assad has used them several times before. Why didn’t he have everything to lose and nothing to gain then?
Flashback 2013:
UN Investigator Claims Evidence Syrian Rebels Used Sarin Gas
https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/item/15308-un-investigator-claims-evidence-syrian-rebels-used-sarin-gas
U.S. Military Document: Syrian Rebels Had Chemical Weapons
https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/item/16577-u-s-military-document-syrian-rebels-had-chemical-weapons
Syrian Rebels Fire on Civilian Protesters
https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/item/15449-syrian-rebels-fire-on-civilian-protesters
Top Syrian Rebel Group Merges With Al-Qaeda in Iraq
https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/item/15065-top-syrian-rebel-group-merges-with-al-qaeda-in-iraq
This is amazing. If there were the slightest doubt that Assad was responsible it would be the perfect tool for the left to attack Trump and divide his base. No one on the left is doing that.
Yet many on the right are volunteering to divide the base without a shred of evidence that does cast doubt on Pres. Trump.
It’s not easy for a Westerner to comprehend the use of terror to manipulate a populace.
VERY easy for a Muslim, however.
It’s cheap, effective and traditional. It’s the *first* choice.
Flash forward. This is 2017.
No one is saying the rebels have never used Sarin either. lol
Assad was winning. He had no reason to use gas. And as far as we actually know, he didn’t.
Yet many on the right are volunteering to divide the base without a shred of evidence that does cast doubt on Pres. Trump.
Exactly.
It can only be ascribed to people indulging their NeverTrump impulses.
It's needlessly divisive, in a time when unity is of paramount importance.
Precisely. It makes more sense for Assad to be framed.
It must be the Art Bell crowd. Too much contrail inhalation.
We have American Soldiers in Syria.
Could be Assad was sending us a message.
Could be he got an answer.
If real evidence surfaced that Assad did not commit a Sarin gas attack I would have no problem being critical of Trump’s decision.
Since none of us here have any real evidence either way that makes it a 50/50 proposition from our cheap seats POV. That puts that question 100% in the realm of speculation.
Apparently some would rather err on the side that Trump is easily led/naive/a globalist/a liar/etc. I think you’ve pegged it.
That high altitude water vapor is pretty head stuff. Believe me, I live in the mtns of CO! lol
(dang typos)
>> Saddam gassed his own people.
I believe Assad is more realistic about the consequences of chemical attacks. And unless Assad desires an international response, there’s no reason for him to incite it.
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