“And a single strike against a Syria airfield is not war. It is the sending of a message.”
Yes, but the message my not interpreted as you wish. Some see it as a message of forceful strength. Others, including world leaders like Putin will likely see it as a message of weakness. A super power lobbing 59 cruise missiles against a third rate Arab nation fighting for its life against radical Islam. A nation that has virtually no ability to hit back. It’s akin to a drunk walking into a bar and starting a fight with the smallest man he can find.
I remember being all worked up when Reagan ordered the strikes on Libya—I fell for all of the liberal koolaid, just like you are doing now.
The important message is not the one that either you or I receive. It is the one that is heard in Syria.
We can question until the cows come home why we are involved in Syria in the first place, when we have no apparent strategic interest over there. And we can blame Obama both for getting us involved and for taking weak-willed half measures. The inescapable truth is that Obama and his secretary of state messed things up royally over there, and it seems that walking away and leaving Syria to rot in that mess is not an option that Trump is willing to take.
I am not going to second-guess him, and I certainly am not going to second-guess the behind-the-scenes intel.