[yt_dropcap type=”square” font=”” size=”14″ color=”#000″ background=”#fff” ] A [/yt_dropcap] suspected chemical attack occurs in Syria killing 72 people including 11 children. More than 550 people get injured in the attack. ‘Beautiful babies were slaughtered. That is unacceptable’ says Trump. Immediately, he launches an attack on Syria as some sort of a protest against the regime using chemical weapons and as a protest against the innocent children getting killed. So what effect did the Tomahawk missiles have?
This killed many people including nine civilians and four children. What about the four children who died due to the missiles? Who will lament for these beautiful babies who have died? First of all, how did Trump conclude that Assad was the perpetrator in this chemical attack? Not a shred of evidence has been provided to either the American people or the Congress. Yet everyone seems to be happy about Trump’s attack on Syria. They are convinced that it was Assad without any concrete evidence for the same. As for the attack, there are three possibilities.
Scenario 1
Assad did not carry out the attack. He had zero motive for that. Even in order for any crime to be committed, a motive has to be there. Assad was gaining in the war. He took back a lot of territory from the rebels. Added to that, very importantly, the US, for the first time since the start of the war, had declared that removing Assad was no longer a goal. So why would he want to risk everything by launching a chemical weapons attack? He had all the reasons to avoid using chemical weapons.
What if this attack had been a ‘false flag attack’ done by the rebels? UN’s senior official Del Ponte has mentioned in the past that the rebels have used Sarin in the past. The rebels had all the motive to commit such an attack. They were losing the war. For the first time since the war had started, Russia and America had started speaking in one voice saying that the staying of Assad was acceptable to them. All that they had to do was to carry out a false flag attack and let Assad take the blame. If Assad had to commit this, either he had to be most stupid person or he had to be taking Ganja when he took such a decision. Neither is he stupid nor is there any evidence for the latter too.
Scenario 2
That was scenario 1. Now let’s look at scenario 2. Just because the rebels are in possession of the chemical weapons does not mean that Assad could not have carried out the attack. What if Assad had carried out those attacks? There are contradictions in Russia’s and Assad’s claims. Russia initially said that Syrian aircraft carried out the raid. However they claimed that the chemicals were part of a terrorist (meaning rebel groups) stockpile that hit the ground during the course of the attack. Later on Assad went on air claiming that the attack did not take place at all and he doubted whether the video was genuine. On one hand, Russia is saying that the attack did take place but the stockpile got released and that was the reason for the attack. On the other hand, Assad has gone on record saying that the attack never took place. Clearly, Russia and Syria are contradicting each other. There is more to it than meets the eye.
Scenario 3
What if both the scenarios were false? Not many have discussed a third scenario. What if some officer in Assad’s regime, disgruntled with Assad or America, or for any other reason, carried out the attack without getting Assad’s nod? In this scenario, Assad would be forced to deny the attack because admitting to the attacks would mean admitting to having chemical weapons. It would also mean that he does not have full control over his army. Also, one notable point is that the vehemence with which Assad denied any responsibility for the bombing attack in Aleppo did not match the somewhat mute denial of any responsibility towards the chemical attack.
Did Trump even think about these possible scenarios? Everyone is talking about the motives of Assad. But no one is talking about the motives of Trump in launching the tomahawk missiles. Why did Trump do that? That Trump was moved by the videos/pictures of the children dying a slow and painful could be true. No doubts the pictures.videos were horrifying and would have moved any human being. But surely, he would not have taken a decision to attack another country based on these pictures. Without a proper investigation by a neutral agency like the UN or the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), when the situation is so complicated as was pointed above, how could he do that?
Clearly, there seems to be two motivations. One was his tendency to react impulsively and immediately to any slights/insults. That could be seen from his twitter attacks to each and every comment/remark which he considered as an insult. He was somehow convinced, mainly by the war-mongering Washington establishment, that it was Assad who did it. Just after a few days after he (the US) declared indirectly that Assad can stay, how can Assad do this to him? He (Trump) will be the one ending up with egg on his face.
Secondly and equally importantly, Trump went weak in his knees. Allegations about his campaign team having connections with Russia were filling up the media. Michael Flynn had to leave. There were allegations against Jeff Sessions. Investigations were going on left, right and centre over Trump’s alleged connections with Russia. How could he get away from all these? Pat came the idea. He used the Syria bombing as a pivot from the Russia connections. It seems to have had its effect.
So what about the subsequent bombing that happened in Aleppo a few days after the chemical attack? Around 126 people were killed including around 70 children. This attack, in all probability, was carried out by the rebels. This convoy was carrying around 5000 people, including civilians and several hundred pro-government fighters. This was part of an agreement between the government and the insurgents. It was a cowardly attack because it was done against fleeing civilians. Around 70 children died. Yet Ivanka Trump did not cry out “Oh Daddy, it is horrible. You’ve gotta do something!!!” Donald Trump did not give out any statements lamenting about beautiful babies dying. While all in the mainstream media went gaga about the Trump administration’s strikes on Syria, hardly anyone mentioned the second bomb attack on the civilians. That is because it was the rebels groups who are believed to have done it and not Assad.
Let’s have a look at a schedule of the CNN programs
07.00 – 09.00 – A special program on Trump’s connections with Russia
09.00 – 11.00 – A special program on Russia’s special connections with Trump
11.00 – 13.00 – Don Lemon’s interview with US Political Analysts on Trump propaganda machine and Russia
13.00-15.00 – Kate Bolduan special program on ‘How Russia meddled in the US elections’
15.00-17.00 – Jake Tapper anchors – ‘Did Russia influence the US elections’
17.00-19.00 – Anderson Cooper hosts the special episode ‘Trump’s business interests in Russia’
19.00-23.00 – A Fareed Zakaria special – ‘How Trump’s close relations with Putin is dangerous to America’
From 23.00 – Repeat of the same cycle
Penultimately, Trump had the vision to see that a better relationship with Russia could have made things better for the US. Sadly, he lacked the courage to implement it……..
Until clear evidence emerges about the chemical attack, one should remember what is happening in Syria is not a fight between The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. What is happening is a fight between The Bad, The Uglier and the Ugliest. Neither For a Fistful of Dollars or maybe even For a Few Dollars More will this writer say that Syria should get into the hands of The Uglier (al Qaeda) or The Ugliest (ISIS) !
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author
