It is bad enough when the imbecile in the White House vents his emotional outbursts by firing off tweets. But now he is firing off missiles.
This is an alarming development.
The mainstream media is full of praise for President Donald Trump’s bombing of Syria. But praising this megalomaniac for suddenly bombing on a whim is highly irresponsible. Such praise serves to encourage the sort of deviant behavior that should be ardently discouraged. The next time Trump’s fragile ego is desperate for public adulation, he now might be inclined to turn to military action.
To be sure, it is tempting to support bombing against President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Assad is a brutal dictator who has committed unspeakable atrocities against civilians, and his recent use of chemical weapons is yet another dreadful instance. Assad’s barbarism is so outrageous that we feel morally inclined to support retaliation against him. This is understandable.
But in considering how best to address the situation of Assad, we must not be swept away by our impulses. When objectively assessing Trump’s handling of the issue of Syria, we see clearly that Trump bungled it badly.
Assad’s latest use of chemical weapons did not suddenly occur at random. Trump himself created a tolerant environment that facilitated Assad’s use of chemical weapons. Just think of all the signals sent by Trump and his administration.
Trump has consistently supported tyrannical dictators around the world. Most prominent has been Trump’s adoration of Vladimir Putin, who is the very sponsor of Assad’s horrific war and a supporter of Assad’s atrocities. This alone is quite a strong signal.
But further, Trump even acknowledged that Putin is a “killer” and seemed to indicate that this is acceptable to Trump. Naturally, Assad must have been delighted to hear these words from Trump and likely interpreted them as a green light to prosecute his war with reckless abandon, atrocities and all.
Trump probably never intended to convey such a message, but Trump is too big of a fool to understand the serious consequences that can result from the words spoken by the president of the United States.
Trump has expressed fondness for other brutal dictators as well. Just recently, Trump welcomed to the White House the president of Egypt, Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, the military strongman who seized power in Egypt and unleashed a wave of brutal crackdowns and human rights violations.
Former President Barack Obama declined to receive al-Sissi in the White House over concerns about his human rights abuses, but for Trump, no problem. During the visit, Trump praised al-Sissi before the world as having done a “fantastic job” in Egypt and declaring that Trump was “very much behind President al-Sissi.” Then Trump shook his hand with great enthusiasm.
Trump has praised a number of other brutal dictators as well, including Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and Kim Jong Un of North Korea. In fact, in September of 2015, Trump even said of Assad himself, “I think in terms of leadership, [Assad’s] getting an ‘A’ and our president [Obama] is not doing so well.”
Trump is too unsophisticated to appreciate the consequences of his support for these authoritarian regimes. But it is plainly predictable that Trump’s pronouncements would lead Assad to conclude that Trump would not interfere in Assad’s war against his own people, no matter how heinous.
In the days prior to Assad’s chemical attack, statements from Trump’s administration provided further encouragement. Trump’s Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, said that the “status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people.” This, of course, is utterly absurd because Assad has bombed the Syrian people into submission specifically to prevent them from being able to fairly choose their own leader.
Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, characterized Assad as a mere “hindrance,” and said that under Trump, the U.S. “priority is no longer to sit and focus on getting Assad out.”
And Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, said that Trump would instead prioritize fighting terrorism and that “with respect to Assad, there is a political reality that we have to accept,” seeming to indicate that Trump has no problem with Assad remaining in power.
In light of this context, it is perfectly understandable that Assad would conclude that he now had the green light from Trump to use chemical weapons. Thus it should come as no surprise that he actually did it.
Then Trump responded by suddenly bombing Assad. Now there was the surprise. And a big surprise at that. After all, it was completely inconsistent with Trump’s signals all along. Clearly, Trump has no policy and no inclination of how to approach the situation in Syria, yet he is willing to launch missiles on impulse. Such profound incoherence coupled with such extreme action is unacceptable from the leader of the free world.
The most troubling aspect about Trump’s response is not the bombing itself, as that was quite limited, but instead, it is the rationale behind his decision to launch the bombs. The determining factor seems to have been photographs viewed by Trump of victims of Assad’s chemical attack, including children. This caused Trump to experience an emotional reaction, and he quickly ordered the bombing in response.
In one respect, it is heartening to see Trump finally caring about a human being other than himself. But in a larger sense, it is highly disturbing that these photographs were the cause of Trump’s response.
Why did it take these photographs to gain Trump’s attention?
Does Trump have no idea whatsoever of the enormous human suffering that is caused by war? Does he not know that such misery has been going on for years in Syria? Does he not know that bombing cities destroys the lives of innocent people, families, and children? Does he not know that this suffering is what causes innocent people to flee their homes and endure the hardships of becoming refugees?
Does Trump have no idea whatsoever that dictators are the people who impose this suffering upon innocent people? Does he not know that his support of dictators actually contributes to this suffering?
Does Trump have no idea whatsoever about the humanitarian importance of providing relief to these suffering people by admitting them into the United States as refugees?
Apparently not.
In this particular instance, Trump’s bombing of Syria may seem morally justified because Assad is such a monster. But in truth, an erratic president of the sole superpower who bombs on impulse poses a grave danger to the world.
There is no telling what might be Trump’s next bombing impulse.
Chances are, however, it will be a whole lot worse.