From one right-wing autocrat to another: job well done. That’s the message of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday to Donald Trump after Trump launched an illegal and unauthorized missile strike against Syria yesterday that killed at least 7 people.
According to Netanyahu, Trump’s troubling reversal of position in response to Assad’s use of poison gas in 24 hours represents a “message of resolve.” Sounds more like waffling and indecision, but okay. Whatever gets you to sleep at night:
“In both word and action, President Trump sent a strong and clear message today that the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated.
“Israel fully supports President Trump’s decision and hopes that this message of resolve in the face of the Assad regime’s horrific actions will resonate not only in Damascus, but in Tehran, Pyongyang and elsewhere.”
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman reveals that the U.S. did inform the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) ahead of time:
“The American update to the IDF and security establishment before the attack in Syria is further proof of the strength of the relationship and depth of the connection between Israel and its largest ally, the United States.”
According to Liberman, Trump’s unauthorized attack on Syria was “an important, necessary and moral message by the free world, led by the United States.”
It was a message all right. That message is that, in the case of Syria intervention, if not in immigration and travel bans and environmental protections, the man Steve Bannon calls a “cuck,” Jared Kushner, and not Steve Bannon, had the president’s ear.
And it did set an example. Just not the right one. After all, it was Trump who in 2013 told President Obama repeatedly not to attack Syria. Now he has attacked Syria.
And it was just last week that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the “longer-term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people.” Now it seems it will be decided, at least in part, by American Tomahawk cruise missiles.
As for our allies, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, have also expressed support for the airstrike and, apparently, Trumpian hypocrisy and abuse of power.
Vladimir Putin is unhappy calling the response to the gassing of children “an aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law, and under a trumped-up pretext at that.”
TASS reports that a Russian frigate also loaded with cruise missiles is headed for Syria. The Russian news agency says “a military-diplomatic source in Moscow” revealed that The Admiral Grigorovich’s presence will depend on the situation, but “in any way it will last more than a month.”
Russia, it scarce needs be said at this point, is an ally of Syria. The question must be asked what Putin will do if Trump attacks another Syrian air force base while a Russian frigate loaded with cruise missiles sits nearby.
China’s state newspaper, the “Global Times,” said Trump’s “haste and inconsistency has left people with a deep impression.” That’s one way of putting it. And it is a saner response by far than that of Benjamin Netanyahu.
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