Although no one can know what was in Mattis' head, I believe he believed Asad's jets dropped chemical weapons, based on what his staff and the CIA told him.
Me? I'm not so sure, Asad's interests are not served by crossing the WMD threshold. ISIS has been known to use WMDs, therefore I believe it is more likely an ISIS stockpile was destroyed that day, releasing chemicals that were already on the ground.
The CIA is no friend of Trump, it is entirely possible they shaded the truth in a direction to destabilize the Trump administration. The White House acted in good faith based on what they were told.
Some of the creatures in the swamp are far more dangerous than others...
That may or may not be so. If it is they screwed up and Trump wins.
Xi Jingping is not a happy camper right now. Neither are the Barfatoallah’s in Iran, nor Putin in Russia.
Lots of dirty underwear this morning.