I think there’s been evidence on previous occasions that some of the rebels have stocks of chemical weapons including Sarin. Whether they were stolen from Syrian storage before Assad was compelled to destroy his stocks I don’t know. I’ve even heard it said that it might have come from Iraq originally.
But it would’ve been better to establish exactly how the gas came to be released beyond all reasonable doubt before putting on a show.
It still irks me that this incident received blanket media coverage yet the killing a couple of weeks back of 200+ civilians in Mosul in a coalition (US) airstrike received barely any. Some civilian deaths are deemed far more important than others.
If it was Russia/Putin’s aim to make Trump look good and Obama look bad that surely could have been achieved by having “deal maker” Trump broker a peace settlement. Trump actually loses with his base by this (missile attack) response; remember that a large part of his appeal was running as an “America First” non-internationalist.
Assad has used chemical weapons on his own population in the past and received nothing but “don’t do that again” warnings from the world community. Recent Trump administration statements that the Syrian regime was a reality and had to be accepted and dealt with as the legitimate government can only served to have emboldened Assad.
Not hard to believe Assad launched another chemical attack.
I don’t see what Assad had to gain from doing it. He (with Russian assistance) appears to have been slowly winning this civil war. A chemical weapon strike wasn’t going to accelerate things much. This response by the US will embolden Al Nusra & IS rebels.
What did he have to gain by any of his past chemical attacks? The best explanation I’ve heard is that Assad uses attacks on civilians as a form of asserting domestic control. “I can do what I want to you and nobody in the world can do anything to protect you”.
While there’s no doubt that there have been multiple instances where chemical weapons have been deployed, in many of the events there is some doubt as to who used them & where they came from.
Yup, because last time he used them there were no consequences, Obama and Cameron were neutered by their own Parliaments. Chemical weapons are effective at spreading fear and terror, makes life easy when trying to defeat your own population. He may well have gambled that Trump would not jeopordise his growing relationship with Putin and felt he could get away with it.
No conspiracy required, he’s just an evil twat.
Trump gets home support and other western allies are pleased to see him come back to the fold in terms of Putin.
They can’t say because it’s all about burning sources, diplomacy, and the long game.
Much of the media coverage is manipulated by whichever country has an interest. I can’t believe people speculate and wonder, as it’s on an altogether other level to anything we can influence. The truth isn’t something for us, sadly, and even if you knew it it wouldn’t make much difference.
All I would say, with some genuine insight, is you can’t trust the Russians!
