Trumpin' Syria - Here We Go Again

Why is Syria our problem? In other words, why does the U.S. need to punish Bashar al-Assad for his use (maybe) of chemical weapons...again?

Trump doesn’t mind Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines slaughtering Filipinos. Duterte openly boasts about killing his own people. Trump even praises him for it.

Trump doesn’t have any issues with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey who has killed hundreds of people opposed to his regime. 
          Trump also recently called and congratulated the re-election of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt who has massacred thousands of Egyptians. 
          And Trump has literally praised Kim Jong-Un as a smart, “tough little cookie” who has overseen the deaths of close to a million of his countrymen and women. So why is Trump making a big deal about Assad killing other Syrians?

Trump tried out his warmonger stance last year on April 6^th when he authorized the U.S. Navy to launch 59 tomahawk missiles at airfields and infrastructure in Syria. Congress was not notified to approve military action, nor was any legal authority established for the US strike. Some people have a knack for war-making decisions. But not Trump and his administration. They display nothing but weakness, blundering, and cowardice. No one is impressed with Trump's ability, not even Death.

And this is telling, just like he did tonight, last year Trump said the strike was in the “vital national security interests of the  United States." But three days later on Sunday April 9^th, Trump conceded that it was just an “impulsive action” prompted by a video earlier in the week that upset Ivanka of seeing gassed Syrian children. There was no vital national security issue. Trump didn't give a damn about gassed Syrians, he just didn't want to see Ivanka's tears.

How effective was Trump’s attack last year? Reconnaissance photos taken after the strike found four destroyed aircraft with sixteen more damaged, and a few burned out buildings. Yet the runways were left completely intact. Syrian jets even use them later that morning for another bombing run on rebel-held territories in northern Syria. So, do you think this year's strike will be any more effective? What are the odds of getting entangled in a war with Russia and Iran...especially with someone as incompetent at military matters as Trump? There are now indications that, again, the Russians were warned of the missile strike ahead of time. Didn't Trump say he was not going to "telegraph?"
          Still trying to woo his evangelical base, Trump asked people to pray to god, for the troops involved, and for the Syrian people (who by and large believe in a very different version of god.) Why didn't Trump just pray to god to get rid of Assad and save risking any more lives? After all, thoughts and prayers work, Just ask Republican congressmen.

Just last week at a campaign pep rally in Ohio, Trump surprised everyone back at the White House and the Pentagon when he announced U.S. troops were going to be pulled out of Syria “very soon." One source even said Trump had initially planned to withdraw them within 48 hours. He had to be quickly dissuaded by General Mattis because it was an impossible time schedule. So Trump isn’t serious about Syria, nor is he about Assad killing his own people. It’s a distraction from all the legal, ethical, and criminal issues Trump is facing. The problem is, American, British, and French lives are going to be put at risk to protect Trump from his own stupidity.
And I have to wonder, what ever happened to THIS Trump?

Syria is not our problem and there never has been any "vital national security interest." Trump just wants everyone to think he's a big, tough, macho man, even with that painful bone spur in his foot. 
          Only an idiot plows ahead when he knows his decision will create more debt and cause a possible long term conflict. Did Trump get Congressional approval? - Big mistake if he did not.

Addendum - April 14, 2018: After claiming in his press briefing last night that this attack on Syria would be a sustained effort, this morning Trump proved to be as poor a commander-in-chief as George W. Bush when - indicating that that one attack would teach Assad a lesson and also scare the Russians - he tweeted about the early morning missile assault - "Mission Accomplished!"