Day 159: Trump Pushes U.S. Closer to War in Syria
Urgency of late night Whit House statement is undercut both by intelligence agencies and Trump’s morning remarks.
Late last night, the White House issued a dire warning to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.
What’s odd is that CENTCOM has no idea what the White House is talking about.
By their own words, CENTCOM “directs and enables military operations and activities with allies and partners to increase regional security and stability in support of enduring U.S. interests.” If anyone should know about an imminent threat in Syria — or the United States taking retaliatory measures — it’s those at CENTCOM. As is the case with most intelligence agencies and operations, CENTCOM is likely to know most information before the White House and pass along urgent or vital intelligence accordingly.
According to NBC News, officials from multiple agencies were caught flat-footed by the statement.
Five U.S. defense, military and intelligence officials told NBC News they were caught off guard by the White House statement and could not even guess what a possible target would be.
“I don’t know what the [White House] statement is,” one responded.
The threats issued by the White House are not to be taken lightly. They have a severe impact on both the U.S. and its allies. In recent weeks, there have already been numerous direct engagements in Syria, including the shooting down of a Syrian warplane by U.S. forces. And while the U.S. is inching closer and closer to full war in the region, Congress hasn’t authorized any such acts.
For Donald Trump, war may be a personally-appealing objective. Wars traditionally boost the approval rating of presidents, at least at the outset. This is a concept known as the “rally around the flag” effect. With an approval rating in the mid-to-high-30s, it’s possible Trump and his team believe a war — or at least substantial military action in the region — is the key to uniting the people around him. Starting with a bold statement that touches on both fear and American heroism would certainly fall in line with those objectives.
Either way, the necessity of last night’s statement will be questioned moving forward, especially as intelligence officials still try to piece together the information the White House was relying on.
Undercutting the White House’s argument that urgency and importance induced the late night statement was urgent Donald Trump’s tweets from this morning: three personally blasting CNN and fake news, one retweeting a meme blasting CNN, four retweeting Fox & Friends articles or clips and retweeting a book ad for a Fox News co-host.
None dealt with Syria.
159 days in, 1303 to go
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