Free Republic

President Trump on Monday put the brakes on a preliminary plan to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia, walking back a Sunday announcement by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley that the Kremlin had swiftly denounced as “international economic raiding.” Preparations to punish Russia anew for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government over the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria caused consternation at the White House. Haley had said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” that sanctions on Russian companies behind the equipment related to Assad’s alleged chemical weapons attack would be announced Monday by Treasury...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., criticized the military strikes President Trump ordered against Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack against civilians, calling them an “underwhelming response” and “major step backwards.” Graham said the air and missile strikes that targeted three chemical weapons facilities in Syria were a “missed opportunity” and were not a sufficient enough response to Syrian President Bashar Assad, during an interview Monday with “The Hugh Hewitt Show.” “Didn’t lay a glove on Assad’s capabilities to wage war. We’re becoming the chemical weapons police. We don’t have a strategy about why Syria matters,” Graham said. “It...

Sen. Mike Lee issued a statement Monday criticizing the Trump administration for not seeking congressional authority before launching airstrikes in Syria. “No President of the United States, no matter party or political ideology, has the authority to unilaterally start a war. While the president has the authority under the War Powers Act to respond when the U.S. is under attack or in imminent danger, such circumstances did not exist with regard to Syria,” Mr. Lee, Utah Republican, tweeted.

A HEAVY flight of US-led coalition warplanes have reportedly been seen flying over the Iraqi border as a nerve gas counter attack looms. Flight data shows planes being diverted from Syrian airspace as a 48 hour clearance was reportedly ordered by the US military

President Trump cancelled the CIA’s secret program to arm and train Syrian rebels fighting the regime of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad — a move critics called a gift to Russia, a new report said Wednesday. “This is a momentous decision. Putin won in Syria,” a US official who supported the program told The Washington Post. The program to arm moderate Syrian rebels began under the Obama administration in 2013 and was continued under Trump until now. Officials told the paper that phasing out the covert program was a way to improve relations with Russia and President Vladimir Putin, who strongly...

On a morning when you would have expected the Morning Joe panel to be all about Trump’s CNN wrestling tweet, a Washington Post editor/columnist painted an amazingly positive portrait of the president’s actions in Syria. WaPo’s David Ignatius has just returned from a week in Syria. He was almost apologetic in prefacing his remarks: “I’m going to say something that in some ways is sympathetic to Trump.” He then proceeded to say that he was told by top US commanders that “the most daring and decisive” attack in the battle of Raqqa would not have happened if it hadn’t been...