On Friday the 13th 2018 President Donald Trump briefed the American people on his approval of military strikes against Syria. Later that night Syria was attacked by missile and combat jet strikes that supposedly were targeting precision targets. The attacks were in response to an alleged chemical attack by the Syrian Army the week before against a Damascus suburb. Supposedly 40 people died in this chemical attack. The Syrian Army has been credited by Russia with shooting down some of these missiles and early reports claim there are three wounded Syrians from the U.S. strikes. Although the U.S. has refuted these claims. Ongoing footage has shown Assad supporters congregating in Damascus and other than these displays it seems Damascus is pretty much moving like it's another day. This could be because Syria has been at war for seven years now or because the strikes have achieved there goal of not causing massive collateral damage.There were live footage of the destruction of one of the facilities, confirming the success of the mission. This could change has information comes out.
The narrative that the chemical attack happened has been promoted by western main stream media almost unquestioned. Only a few journalists have actually questioned this narrative namely Tucker Carlson of Fox News stands out. Those opposing the narrative mentioned the fact that no evidence has been released publicly that a chemical attack did happen. The only evidence shown is the propaganda videos released by the "white helmets" a group of supposed traveling medics who for some reason always tend to arrive to every chemical attack perpetuated by the Assad regime. Many sources online have shown evidence that this group works for rebel groups against Assad more precisely Al Qaeda affiliated groups and even possibly ISIS. Independent journalist who have been constantly attacked by the main stream media have claimed the white helmets are auxiliaries to terrorist groups, evidence includes a white helmets headquarter right next to the local Al Qaeda headquarters and statements from locals that the white helmets always save terrorists injured in Russian and Syrian air strikes first and sometimes completely neglect any civilians in the area. These journalist have even found Al Qaeda and ISIS paraphernalia in the white helmets headquarters. There are also photo and video footage of white helmet members with Al Qaeda leaders. Strong evidence also exists that shows that the white helmets usually only work in the terrorists areas of influence. Most main stream media denounces most of this evidence and the journalists that have brought light to this group. Although ironically they do explain how the white helmets were started by a former British soldier and are supported financially by Turkey and the U.S.
And how about the other major group in the Syrian Civil War, the Kurds. The Kurds are the ground forces who have actually been fighting ISIS in the war. The main stream media has explained how the Rojava government run by the Kurds in north eastern Syria have actually banned the white helmets from their territory. A few weeks ago Turkey invaded the district of Afrin on the Syria border which was part of the Rojava territory and let the white helmets in again. So if the white helmets are just rescue workers why would the freedom fighting kurds not want them around. What do they know about the white helmets? It seems the main stream media would rather you not know. During the years of conflict in Syria there has been several chemical attacks. Yet the U.N. has actually accused both rebel side and government side of perpetrating these attacks.
When the chemical attacks were reported on in the west the media strangely did not make it a big story. They seemed more interest in other news that weekend. That is up until Sunday of last week when the media all of a sudden started to beating the war drums harder. This once again faded away on Monday when Mueller went after Trump's attorney Michael Cohen. Apparently he was looking for wrong doing in the payments to the voluptuous porn star Stormy Daniels. What this had to do with Russia is anybodies guess. Many Trump supporters have the view that it was the F.B.I. trying to entrap Trump. The implication is that the F.B.I. is only interested in controlling those people in power and less interested in justice. This news seems to have dominated the week and has made the Trump hating media hysterical over turmoil that has nothing do with the current actions of the sitting President and his time in office. The F.B.I. has been known to pursue frivolous charges against people for political goals. So this narrative begs the question, is the raiding of Michael Cohen's office a threat made by the F.B.I. in order for Trump to act in Syria. Is the so called deep state threatening Trump in order to force his hand. The truth is the raiding of his lawyer has shaken Trump. What's even stranger is his briefing of the military strike on Friday. Trump did not seem confident in his speech, this was not the always confident Trump America knows. Although the week has been dominated by the F.B.I. raid the rest of the coverage was focused on the alleged Syrian chemical attacks and on that there was very little opposition to the veracity of the chemical attacks and to the U.S. striking Syria in retaliation. When I say there was little opposition I mean in both the left and right wing main stream media. It would almost seem the main stream media and the F.B.I. were guiding Trump into a strike. The narrative on the left will be that the president used the strike to deflect from the bad news he received during the week. This could be true since history describes many leaders using war as a way to deflect problems in domestic politics for them. Yet they will be omitting the fact that they reported and promoted that the chemical attack happened and even promoted using military force for retaliation.
Trump in many ways has his hands tied. The news of the military strikes created a up roar amongst the populist and nationalists Trump supporters and fellow travelers. Many who are anti war and isolationist. These people vented their anger on /Pol on 4chan and on chatrooms on you tube during the coverage. One of the president's press secretaries called these people Russian trolls early Saturday which amused many of them. Alex Jones of Infowars a right wing radio and you tube personality claimed he was now against Trump and made several mad and sometimes entertaining rants against the military strikes. He later said during his broadcast he still supports the president on many things but has lost confidence in the President. The right wing opposition to Trump namely the neo cons and establishment conservatives were delighted with the news on Friday. They were joined by John McCain and Lindsey Graham who praised the strikes. The left wing was largely quiet probably because the war in Syria doesn't really fit there narrative in any way. There leaders in the Democratic Party are all pro regime change in Syria. The left in the United States which dominates almost all of the media, was largely supportive of military action in Syria. If there is anti-war sentiment on the left it has been quiet probably because being anti-war would mean you are pro-Assad, which in turn means in their mind that you support Russia. To the American left Russia is the greatest foe the enemy of homosexual, transgender, minority, and women's supremacy as well as the agent who installed Donald Trump as president. The bizarre nature of the right wing being anti war and the left wing being pro war is not lost on political commentators. The left could also start attacking Trump has using the strikes has a way to deflect national attention from the news stories from this week. The left would then claim they are anti-war. Yet it would seem that this tactic's goal would be to discredit the president. The truth is what could the president do? The deep state wants regime change in Syria. Almost all allies and organizations also want regime change in Syria. Although Secretary of Defense James Mattis claimed they had evidence the chemical attacks happened last night. They showed no evidence. Yet the White House press office did release the administration's talking points, these are some of the talking points: " A large volume of high-resolution, reliable photos and video from Duma clearly document victims suffering from asphyxiation and foaming at the mouth, with no visible signs of external wounds " and "Credible medical personnel and organizations have reported symptoms of chlorine and sarin." All of the talking points rely on eyewitness accounts, photos, and video. It seems this media is probably from the white helmets who document there activities probably for propaganda. The eyewitnesses are probably allies of the rebel groups in the area. In summary photographs, videos, and unknown eyewitnesses can all be falsified and are not a good source for evidence. In fact during this week Russian authorities did their own study of the area and claim they found no evidence of an attack. The New York Times claims it has sources that tell them it did. You decide.
What is known at least when this article is released is that the attack was measured. There were four areas that were attacked last night. It seems the U.S. was careful not to attack the Russians. Doing so could trigger a large war which neither side would want, although I think the American left may support. The moderate attack could be a sign the Trump administration were forced into attacking and were not so convinced by the evidence that was provided to them. It could also mean the administration is aware that the chemical attacks were a false flag and think a strong strike would be over kill. In Donald Trump's presidential campaign he attacked former president Barrack Obama has failing to act with his red line in Syria. Trump therefore given the same situation, a chemical attack, had to act differently. Why? Because the U.S. has to show it's strength in the region. Not acting would make the U.S. look weak in a region where Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey vie for power. To call Trump a warmonger would be far fetched. It's also questionable if Trump really is interested in spreading American power. He was voted in has a isolationist after all. A few weeks ago he told troops he wanted forces to leave Syria soon. Many of his right wing supporters were happy, no more Americans dying for somebody elses war. Yet the chemical attacks happened, now Trump can't leave Syria because the butcher Assad is still on the loose. On the other hand despite the use of American forces for non domestic reasons, there is a reason American forces should stay in Syria that does not involve removal of Assad. The Kurds who have formed a autonomous region in north eastern Syria and that most documentation shows are the group that have actually fought ISIS the most are actually in danger of being wiped out by a Turkish invasion. A few weeks ago Turkey invaded the district of Afrin killing many Kurds in the process. The kurds are America's most reliable ally in the region. While U.S. military air strikes and special forces support has supplemented the Kurds, the reality is that the kurds have been the main force on the ground fighting ISIS from the beggining. The kurds have created a autonomous region called Rojava. The region's government is anarcho-syndicalist and its society is tolerant of all religions and ethnicities. A large part of their army is comprised of women. The Turks hate the Kurds and fear a Kurdish government in their borders. It seems Turkey aims to occupy the Kurdish area but the only obstacle is the American bases in the area. If the U.S. leaves, the Kurds may be overun. The U.S. would stabbing the Kurds in the back. If any good comes out of American continued occupation of Syria it would be support to the Kurds. Considering the moderate nature of the attacks the right wing might be over blowing the criticism of Trump's decision to strike. In the end he might of taken the best decision. On the other hand this might be the start of a neo conservative Trump which would make many nationalist populists angry.
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