[Garth Tater]

If US intelligence has damning Syrian communication intercepts, Trump could do a Reagan and present the intercepts to the UN as Reagan did when KAL 007 was shot down by a Soviet SU-15 fighter interceptor.

That is what I wanted to hear, and was expecting to hear, coming from the Trump administration shortly after the attack on the Syrian airbase was ordered. That attack put a lot distance between President Trump and many of his supporters. A rift that did not have to be.

The only proof of a sarin gas attack we had seen at the time of the retaliatory attack had come from the islamic jihadis - and we know that they lie, falsify evidence and stage death scenes. The lack of evidence presented to us by the administration persisted for days. This rift among the Trump supporters (and the rift between Freepers) is largely due to this lack of information coming from our side. That didn't have to be and allowing it to happen was a mistake. A big one.

[sargon]

The Secretary of Defense discussed the fact that there was no doubt as to the culpability of the Syrians in this attack. He said he had seen the inte.

At the time, they showed prima facie evidence of this attack by the Assad regime. You're now referring to additional details that have been released (declassified)—the polit communications.

At the very beginning, releasing that level of detail was absolutely unnecessary. Better to be prudent.

So "big mistake", my ass.

The Trump administration did precisely what was prudent at the time, including providing adequate evidence, and the only "big mistake" is the one the naysayers made when they jumped to conclusions and didn't trust this administration in the first place.

It's ridiculous to think the administration should have released every single intelligence detail right away—such as this one.

The hand-wringers are proven wrong again, and when they are, suddenly it's all about the "big mistake" the administration made by not releasing sensitive information immediately, and a "rift" that thereby resulted.

Bull. The only "rift" was created by the doubting Thomases who disregarded the initial evidence which was perfectly reasonable.

Next time, don't imply that the Secretary of Defense and the President are liars, and maybe there will be less of a "rift".

Or, alternately, maybe next time the administration should just dump all their intelligence immediately and throw caution to the wind...