Former President Obama laid down a red line when it came to Syria and their use of chemical weapons against their citizens, he did not hold to that red line but President Trump did.

Last Thursday evening President Trump order the bombing, using Tomahawk missiles, of a Syrian airfield from which they believed the chemical weapons came from.  The United States fired 60 Tomahawk missiles, launched from Navy warships in the Mediterranean Sea, which targeted the airfield near Homs Syria.  These missiles targeted runways, aircraft and fueling facilities, according to Pentagon officials.

This bombing was due to what many intelligence agencies around the world have stated that President Assad ordered and his military performed the chemical bombing of the town of Khan Sheikhoun.  It is being reported that at least 86 people in the northwestern Syria town were killed, including women and children.  The Syria government bombed that town because the town is a strong hold of a rebel group attempting to overthrow Syria.

The main question being asked by people who are not convinced President Assad ordered the chemical bombing is why he would do so.  Why would he risk the condemnation of the world and a possible retaliation strike from the United States?

Well when you are dealing with a ruthless dictator like President Assad all things are possible.  Maybe he believed:

  • The pros of chemically bombing the city would out weight the cons
  • He wanted to test the new president early in his administration
  • He gambled that President Trump was like former President Obama, all talk and no action. Some would even say that former President Obama’s action of drawing a red line when it came to the use of chemical weapons and then once that line was passed doing nothing was cowardly.  Could President Assad be wondering if President Trump was also a coward?

The question really is do you believe our intelligence agencies which stated that President Assad did order the bombing or do you believe the Syrian, Iranian and Russian government who state they did not.

I tend to believe our government intelligence agencies before I would believe the Syrian, Iranian or Russian government.

Also for all of the people who believe that President Trump was colluding with the Russian government to win the Presidential election, what do you have to say now?  Would President Trump anger the Russian government, which is President Putin, if President Trump and Putin are pals?

Believe it or not there are some national news groups, MSNBC, who pose the theory that President Trump asked President Putin to chemically bomb the town to help his ratings here in the United States, or President Putin decided on his own to do so to help President Trump, a Wag the Dog scenario.


 He also tweeted out, “let's see if anyone can convince me that Putin didn't plan all of this to help his fan in the White House”

The Washington Free Beacon is reporting that a joint Russian-Iranian group in Syria released a statement which said:

We will respond to any aggression powerfully, as Russia and Iran would never allow the U.S. to dominate the world.  We believe that the events [chemical weapons use] in [Syria] have been plotted by certain states and bodies to be used as a pretext to attack Syria

The vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Jonathan Schanzer, was quoted in a Washington Free Beacon article that they believe the bombing of the Syrian airfield was a "positive step" that let the Syrian government know that President Trump’s administration was prepared to take military action against the Assad regime.  They also were quoted in the article stating:

This strike was long overdue in that for the last six years we have had a policy of paralysis in Washington with regard to the ongoing slaughter and mass human rights abuses in Syria. The attack [Thursday] was limited, it was proportional, and I certainly don’t expect this to be the beginning of a longer campaign

Who do you believe, do you need more evidence then has been reported?

The Live with Renk show airs Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to noon, to let me know your thoughts at (269) 441-9595

More From WBCKFM