In the midst of all the nonsense news that fills the airwaves on the mainstream media, there is some rather important stuff that doesn't get mentioned. One such subject is the usage of chemical weapons by the Assad regime in Syria. During the Obama years, the president said that even movement of chemical weapons across the country would be a redline for the USA. Then, the Assad forces used sarin gas over and over. Obama just ignored it. Then after 17 documented usages of the chemical weapons, the people who were attacked managed to take video of the aftermath of the attack and get it out to the West. It was quickly on TV screens across Europe and North America. Obama was forced to acknowledge the attack, but he still did not retaliate. Instead he made a deal under which Assad promised never to use chemicals again and also promised to destroy all weapons he had of this sort. Then, after about a year, the chemical attacks began once again. So much for Obama's vaunted agreement.
Once Trump took office, there were further attacks. After the President had been in office less than two months, the Assad forces launched a major chemical attack. In response, President Trump condemned the attack and launched a punitive counterstrike that destroyed the airbase from which the attack was launched and also destroyed 20% of the Syrian Air Force. The attacks stopped. Then, about a year later, the Assad forces started a new round of chemical attacks. Once again, President Trump responded with a major attack on Syrian targets and the attacks stopped.
That brings us to today. The Assad forces are about to launch an attack on one of the last rebel stronghold in Idlib. America has warned Assad that the use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated. This time, however, the Russians (who are Assad's main backers) have responded with a different tactic. Russia announced yesterday that by the end of next week they expect a phony chemical attack by a group consisting of UK special forces and the local al Qaeda terrorists. The aim will be to get the US airforces to hit the Assad forces very hard in a countermeasure.
Think about that. Russia is actually accusing the Brits of coordinating phony attacks with al Qaeda in order to fool the USA to take action against Assad. Anyone who understands the region knows that this is nothing but a conspiracy theory and an idiotic one at that. Still, the indication is that the Russians will do what they can to protect Assad even if he used chemical weapons. Even worse, by putting this false story out there, Russia is indicating that it expects Assad to hit the rebels with the forbidden chemical weapons very soon. If that happens, the USA will respond with force. Will the Russians oppose that attack. Will the opposition just be verbal or could we see a confrontation between US and Russian forces?
The most likely outcome is that there will be no confrontation. Indeed, Assad may yet back down. Still, there is real risk of confrontation here. Everything considered it is many times more important than the BS in the news in the USA.
Once Trump took office, there were further attacks. After the President had been in office less than two months, the Assad forces launched a major chemical attack. In response, President Trump condemned the attack and launched a punitive counterstrike that destroyed the airbase from which the attack was launched and also destroyed 20% of the Syrian Air Force. The attacks stopped. Then, about a year later, the Assad forces started a new round of chemical attacks. Once again, President Trump responded with a major attack on Syrian targets and the attacks stopped.
That brings us to today. The Assad forces are about to launch an attack on one of the last rebel stronghold in Idlib. America has warned Assad that the use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated. This time, however, the Russians (who are Assad's main backers) have responded with a different tactic. Russia announced yesterday that by the end of next week they expect a phony chemical attack by a group consisting of UK special forces and the local al Qaeda terrorists. The aim will be to get the US airforces to hit the Assad forces very hard in a countermeasure.
Think about that. Russia is actually accusing the Brits of coordinating phony attacks with al Qaeda in order to fool the USA to take action against Assad. Anyone who understands the region knows that this is nothing but a conspiracy theory and an idiotic one at that. Still, the indication is that the Russians will do what they can to protect Assad even if he used chemical weapons. Even worse, by putting this false story out there, Russia is indicating that it expects Assad to hit the rebels with the forbidden chemical weapons very soon. If that happens, the USA will respond with force. Will the Russians oppose that attack. Will the opposition just be verbal or could we see a confrontation between US and Russian forces?
The most likely outcome is that there will be no confrontation. Indeed, Assad may yet back down. Still, there is real risk of confrontation here. Everything considered it is many times more important than the BS in the news in the USA.
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