US, Syria, and Russia: What do we know?

Updated: April 7, 2017

By RU Twisted

Events are unfolding quickly, as these things usually do. So this is going to be quick and dirty about what we know–and, just as importantly, what we don’t know–about the US Navy’s recent strike on a military air base in Syria.

First, the strike was intended to hit an airfield that was allegedly used to launch a chemical attack by the Assad regime (though they deny such an attack), so it would appear that this is a direct attack against that very regime. How legitimate is the intel that lead to the strike? The BBC is pretty confident. As you would expect, there are several sources who question those claims, however. Do your digging, as I’m sure more will come out soon.

Second, as of right now, yes, Russia is standing behind the Assad regime, which means things could get interesting very rapidly. How angry are they and how far are they willing to go in response? Speculation abounds, of course, as the world watches Russian warships move towards US Naval forces.

Third, yes, Donald Trump in 2013 Tweeted, “What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict? Obama needs Congressional approval.” Interesting choice of words, to be sure, and now it is SEN Rand Paul beating that particular drum.

Fourth, there are some really important questions–such as “how will deposing Assad make America safer?”–that don’t have answers (at least to this particular writer), as of now, that are in any way clear. Yet these are all pretty fundamental questions that need to be asked and answered for this to make sense (which is admittedly a bit of a pipe dream, but a guy can dream, right?).

Stay tuned for updates, as I will include them below this line if anything big comes up.

Update: What does it mean if planes are still taking off from the same airbase our missiles hit?