Courtesy of Mish.
In 2013, the US was on the verge of war with Syria. Obama prepared for war but backed down when allies would not support the idea. Trump tweeted against the idea.
Had Hillary won the election war was certain. Last week, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said that Mr. Assad’s fate “will be decided by the Syrian people.” That is exactly how it should be.
Unfortunately, Déjà Vu 2013 has arrived in yet another rush to judgment with absolutely no facts at hand.
The New York Times reports, Worst Chemical Attack in Years in Syria; U.S. Blames Assad.
One of the worst chemical bombings in Syria turned a northern rebel-held area into a toxic kill zone on Tuesday, inciting international outrage over the ever-increasing government impunity shown in the country’s six-year war.
Dozens of people, including children, died — some writhing, choking, gasping or foaming at the mouth — after breathing in poison that possibly contained a nerve agent or other banned chemicals, according to witnesses, doctors and rescue workers. They said the toxic substance spread after warplanes dropped bombs in the early morning hours. Some rescue workers grew ill and collapsed from proximity to the dead.
Western leaders including President Trump blamed the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and called on its patrons, Russia and Iran, to prevent a recurrence of what many described as a war crime.
Russia offered another explanation. A spokesman for its Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said Syrian warplanes had struck an insurgent storehouse containing toxic substances to be used in chemical weapons.
Another Rush to Judgement
The Western response was perfectly predictable: Another Rush to judgment, with the New York Times leading the media parade.
The scale and brazenness of the assault threatened to further subvert a nominal and often violated cease-fire that had taken hold in parts of the country since Mr. Assad’s forces retook the northern city of Aleppo in December with Russian help, emboldening the Syrian leader to think he could win the war.
That’s pretty damn reckless given we do not know what happened.
The White House called the attack a “reprehensible” act against innocent people “that cannot be ignored by the civilized world.”
