The time for idle threats and pinprick retaliation is over in dealing with the murderous Syrian dictator, Bashar Assad. President Donald Trump can no longer hope for results with empty rhetoric and murky policies when a madman uses chemical weapons.
As a candidate, Trump justifiably criticized President Barack Obama for declaring the use of chemical weapons as crossing a red line, only to take no military action when Assad launched a chemical weapons attack in 2013. Obamas red line translated into a green light for Assad to escalate his crimes against humanity, with a big assist from Russia.
On Saturday, Assad launched the latest in a series of chemical weapons attacks against his own people. Trump responded by tweet, using capital letters and exclamation points as if to communicate his resolve to Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin that this aggression will not stand. On Monday, Trump said he would decide within two days how to respond.
Saturdays chemical weapons attack occurred exactly one year after Trump launched 59 cruise missiles against a Syrian air base after a previous chemical attack. The anniversary timing is no accident: Assad is signaling his defiance.
The attack also closely followed Trumps statement of plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, now that Islamic State forces have been beaten back. The Islamic States terrorist campaign was severe in both Iraq and Syria, but it pales in comparison to the Assad regimes decades of atrocities. America cannot simply walk away and leave Assad unchallenged.
A historically assertive U.S. role in the Middle East has ensured that Americas interests prevailed while keeping an imperfect system of checks and balances in place against iron-fisted dictators like Assad. Obamas failure to respond in 2013 erased some of those checks and balances. Trump now threatens to erase more.
A U.S. troop withdrawal would allow Russia, Iran and Lebanons Hezbollah militia to quickly fill the Middle Eastern vacuum. Syrias adventurism in the region is legendary. It fed heavy weapons into Lebanon to keep its civil war raging for 15 years. It sponsored the 1970 Palestinian Black September uprising in Jordan. Syria opened its borders so fanatical Muslim insurgents could destabilize Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Left unchecked, Assad will continue to annihilate his domestic opponents with brutal efficiency while using Hezbollah to torment Israel. Putin is looking for any opening to boost Russias profile in the region.
Assad and Putin are testing Trump and his new national security adviser, John Bolton. The response must not be limited to a single strike like the one a year ago. This time, it should be sustained and punishing, not just to get Assads attention but also that of Iran, Hezbollah and, most importantly, Russia.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
