On Thursday, April 06, at approximately 8:40PM eastern time, the United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump staged a surgical air strike on the Shayrat air base outside the city of Homs in the nation of Syria. Sixty (60) Tomahawk missiles were fired from U.S. warships in the Mediterranean Sea over 100 miles away, on what was believed to be a chemical weapons stronghold of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
This action followed the Sarin gas attack several days before on the civilian population killing what was reported to be 80 innocent Syrians, over 25 of which were children and infants. Pictures in the various tabloids revealing the heinous crime, showing babies straining to breath, shocked the world.
This recent chemical attack, by the murderous dictator on innocent Syrians, was not the first. Following the 2012 “Red Line” ultimatum issued by then President Barack Obama to Bashar al-Assad, threatening military action should a chemical attack occur again, did not sway or put the fear of Allah in al-Assad. In August of 2013, he once again staged a chemical Sarin gas attack that reportedly killed over 1400 innocent Syrians.
al-Assad crossed the “Red Line”, but the Obama administration took no action causing the world to question the presidents motives, lack of certitude and planning, and courage of his convictions, and it also emboldened our enemies to stand up to a weak and recalcitrant American leader. Several other chemical attacks occurred during the Obama administration, and still no action was taken.
Whatever your thoughts might be on this matter; President Trump, shocked and visibly shaken by this lastest attack by al-Assad, revealed to the world a measure of strength, and compassion, and that he will not stand for this malicious and barbaric behavior. We can only hope that the president and his military advisers have a way forward and will stand strong, unwavering, and on solid ground. And that our enemies will go about their dastardly deeds knowing in the back of their minds, there’s a new sheriff in town and he means business.
Since the attack on the Syrian air base, the aftermath, and the worlds reaction, is it at all conceivable that we may have reached an impasse in the divided states of America, and that this action will sway former Trump detractors to reconsider their distrust and yes even hatred for the president. Will the president’s show of force and strength in the face of evil prove to the anti-Trump masses, and many of his supporters, that the leader of the free world is indeed a Commander-in-Chief.
These events beg the question, should we stand by, shrug our collective shoulders, and pontificate on the inhumanity of evil and the crimes committed by brutal regimes, or are we the world’s police force, and because of our military superiority and America’s moral and ethical ethos, do we react in defense of weak and oppressed people. If there was ever a time when this often used quotation by Edmund Burke, familiar to many of us, is most appropriate, it is now “Evil triumphs when good men do nothing”. Do we heed this warning, or do we turn our backs and go about business?
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