Two Thoughts On Syria

The missile attack against  the Syrian airbase that was the launching point for the sarin gas attack is receiving universal plaudits from the media and the hawks in and out of government. I have two quick thoughts on the matter.

First, one of the points that keeps on being mentioned over and over is the “the speed with which this operation took place”. The US response came just 72 hours after the sarin attack. Clearly, this attack was something that had been planned during the Obama administration and was ready to be pulled off the shelf and implemented. The fact that Trump signed off on it so quickly could mean that a thorough vetting of the collateral consequences had already been done. On the other hand, it could just as easily mean that Trump OK’d this attack with as much as haste and disregard for consequences as the operation in Yemen. The latter should give us pause and the former raises the question of what this administration would do when there is a crisis the Obama administration did not already have plans for.

Secondly, Russian assets were clearly located at the base. If the Russians were warned of the attack so that they could move their assets to safety, that would probably have been prudent. But it would have also tipped off the Syrians, essentially blunting the impact of the attack in the first place and making it an almost empty gesture. If the Russians were not notified, then this was a potentially reckless operation that could have resulted in an open confrontation with Russia. That should trouble us all.