What is going on with Trump and Syria tonight?

[The Mikado]

So...earlier tonight, there was this, from our UN Ambassador:

Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley)
Any further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Assad, but also on Russia & Iran who support him killing his own people.

Followed by this:



However, the US Military has no idea what Trump is talking about:

Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy)
Officials at US Central Command told BuzzFeed News they have ‘no idea’ what prompted the statement” from the WH https://t.co/SeFPRMyfLq https://t.co/QtQLgKLE8o



So...Trump officially says that Syria is about to use chemical weapons and Nikki Haley says that Russia and Iran will be held accountable for Syrian war crimes, but Centcom has no idea wtf the Commander in Chief is talking about.

[The Mikado]

Vivian Salama‏
Verified account
 @vmsalama  44m
44 minutes ago
 
 
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It appears policy advisers at State were not briefed on WH Syria statement. Spoke to one senior official tonight who heard the news from me.



From the AP. Trump didn't bother running his war threat to State or Defense before issuing it.

[The Mikado]

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Posturing.

Given that Assad is more than willing to use chemical weapons, as we know by now, saying that we'll hold Iran and Russia to account for Assad's use of them is wildly irresponsible, as it'll lead to one of two things:

1. When Assad does use chemical weapons again (he's Bashar al-Assad, of course he will), Trump will be boxed into declaring war on Syria and taking various punitive steps towards Iran and Russia which could lead to broader war.
2. When Assad uses chemical weapons again, Trump can do another flashy nonresponse and shoot some missiles into the desert and the whole world will know that American threats have no strength behind them.

This is the same f**king trap Assad caught Barack Obama in and it's why you don't give ultimatums.