HARLAN RICHARDS

April 10, 2017

President Trump's Devastating Missile Strike

We all know that Assad has no scruples and has repeatedly used chemical weapons on his own citizens. Obama drew a line in the sand and the failed to act when Assad used chemical weapons. Trump, wanting to show that he was more decisive than Obama, retaliated the first time Assad gassed the rebels.

Trump ordered 60 missiles to strike a Syrian airbase—after he warned the Russians (who no doubt warned Assad). The administration claims that it sent a clear message that will put Assad on notice, that gassing his own citizens is off limits. There's only one problem with this conclusion: it is false. The message Trump sent was that he is all bluster and hot air, that he will make empty gestures that cost taxpayers millions of dollars and that Assad will not be held accountable for his atrocities. The missile strike was on an empty airfield with minimal damage—the airfield was operational the next day.

Does anybody remember what President Reagan did when Muammar Khadafy, the dictator of Libya, sponsored terrorists who blew up a commercial jet? He bombed Khaday's compound which killed Khaday's daughter. That was the last time Khadafy sponsored terrorism.

What did Obama do when Taliban leaders sought to hide out in Pakistan after carrying out terrorist attacks in Afghanistan? He sent drones over there to kill them where they thought they were safe.

What should Trump have done when Assad used chemical weapons? Target Assad and other high ranking members of his government. The only way Assad will stop committing war crimes is if his own life is on the line. Let him know that we will target him personally.

Obama caused this problem by inciting the Syrians to rebel during the "Arab Spring" and then not helping them overthrow Assad. He should have minded his own business—just as Bush should have stayed out of Iraq. Every decision we have made in the Middle East in the last 25 years is wrong and are the cause of all the problems there today. It is too late to solve the Syrian problem. Our failure to act left a power void that Russia has now filled.

It is time for Trump to stop going off like a loose cannon and start putting America first. He can do that by increasing domestic spending, rebuilding our infrastructure, and balancing the federal budget.