There’s been another incident in Syria with chemical weapons. At least, that seems to be the version of the story I hear most frequently. So, of course, the U.S. president decided to send a few missiles their way (NPR, Fox, USA Today, CBS, RT). The U.K. and France joined the fun and fired off a few of their own as well. For a guy so few friends, Bashar al-Assad certainly gets a lot of attention (NPR, WP). Today’s bombing of Syria (Damascus and Homs) sits poorly with several members of the U.S. congress, who would have preferred to be consulted on the matter. According to Ed Markey,
“There is no Congressional authorization for the use of military force against Syrian government targets. And as we saw during President Trump’s cruise missile strikes on a Syrian airbase last year in retaliation for their earlier use of chemical weapons, the attack was neither operationally, nor strategically, successful.”
Russia, as well, is not amused, and has expressed concerns over escalating Syrian tensions evolving into a direct war between the U.S. and Russia. Of course, according to U.S. Secretary of Defense Mattis, that’s just what they would say. He claims,
“based on recent experience, we fully expect a significant disinformation campaign over the coming days by those who have aligned themselves with the Assad regime.”
In fact, when it comes to Syria, I get the feeling we can expect a significant disinformation campaign all around for quite some time to come.
The Daily Take 