Aesop on the Syria missile attack.

Aesop at The Raconteurre Report says to settle down and take a breath on the Tomahawk missile attack against Syria. I have already said that I don't support the action but I think I can endorse most of Aesop's message here. My rebuttals:

1.) There were a lot of us Liberty-minded types complaining about having troops in Syria as far back as a few years ago. We've had Special Forces soldiers there since nearly the beginning of hostilities (because our SF is everywhere). During the 0bama years, the republican voting bloc was indignant and the democrats were indifferent. Now it's Trump commanding the forces, so the indignant and indifferent are flipped. But the people who are truly Liberty minded did not support our involvement in the Syrian mess, and still don't.

2.) We already know that the last time there was a big chemical attack, the blame was placed on Assad and it turned out to be ISIS. We were offered no evidence that Assad conducted that attack. This time, we have been told that we've intercepted comms that confirm Assad's regime is at fault. I have no problem believing that Assad would do something like this and I have no problem believing that he has the weapons. I think the problem is that the US government is the one telling us these things, and a lot of people have a problem believing the info due to the source, no matter how easy it is to believe the info itself.

3.) Yes, Middle Eastern dictators are psychotic and unpredictable. I have no problem believing Assad would use chemical weapons against his people, though I'm not sure how many of "his people" are also members of ISIS. Another trait of many Middle Eastern dictators who run secular governments is the ability to keep Islamic extremism in check. Look at Iraq and Libya. What were those countries before we deposed Saddam and Qaddafi? They were secular dictatorships where Islamic extremism was held in check thanks to the heavy tactics used against them if they popped their heads up. What are those countries now after we took out the secular dictators? Hotbeds of Islamic extremism. Training grounds. Jihadi havens. Before the "Arab Spring", Syria was a fairly stable country run by a dictator that we didn't like, but had tolerated, at the least. The Christians in Syria were at least able to live in peace and at the same time worship openly as Christians. What will Syria be if we continue to oppose him. I'm not saying that we need to buddy up with him and help him fight. I'm just saying that those 59 cruise missiles should have been aimed at ISIS or AQ fighters. Not at the guy fighting them, even if we don't like him.

4.) I agree that Putin is not going to go to WWIII over Syria. Not even close.

5.) I agree that the only people less trustworthy than American government officials, are Russian government officials. One beef I have with the American Liberty movement is how eager they are to trust Russian info. You don't have to trust the US government but it would behoove us to also distrust the Russian government.

6.) Despite the fact that the Mid-East has been a crap shoot for a long time, we can easily identify a few countries where some stability was acheived, or at least, where Islamic savages were not able to operate with ease. Jordan is one example. Iraq and Libya were examples, and so was Syria. The region as a whole sucks, but our efforts to improve some of those places have ended up making them worse. Worse for us, that is, by allowing a vacuum where Islamic savages have moved in.


I can get on board with Aesop's summary that a message was sent by Trump when he launched those cruise missiles (and dropped the MOAB on ISIS in Afghanistan). I don't think anyone doubts that he will use military power when he needs to, and that's a good message. The MOAB strike was a great move. But the cruise missiles could have had much, much better targets. I personally wish they'd have identified a dozen or so ISIS target inside Syria and hit them instead. It would have signaled a willingness to hit ISIS inside any borders anywhere.

Now for MY summary, this cruise missile attack on Assad could pass as a small tactical event with a nice message as long as we don't grow our presence in Syria and start sinking more and more money and resources into it. That's how I hope it goes.