Donald J. Trump may not have faith in American institutions like the separation of powers in the Constitution, the independence of the Department of Justice and the FBI or the judiciary, but he must firmly believe there is a massive outbreak of Alzheimer’s disease among the nation’s populace.  Otherwise, how could he possibly get away with the “malarkey” he tweeted this weekend in response to Bashar al-Assad’s chemical attack on residents of Dourma, Syria.

In his latest iteration of “it is the Black guy’s fault,” Trump tweeted:

If President Obama had crossed his stated Red Line In The Sand, the Syrian disaster would have ended long ago! Animal Assad would have been history!

What the faux-tough-guy-in-chief failed to comprehend was Trump BFF Vladimir Putin actually took Barack Obama seriously.  As sportscaster Warner Wolf used to say, “Let’s go to the video tape!”

Just after midnight on August 21, 2013,  the Assad regime launched rockets loaded with toxins into the Ghouta neighborhood outside Damascus killing more than 1,400 residents including at least 426 children. (Washington Post/August 30, 2013).  To avoid a military response based on Obama’s “red-line” declaration, Russia and the United Nations agreed that all of Syria’s chemical stockpile would be destroyed by June 30, 2014. (UN Security Council Resolution 2118).  The United States actively participated in the destruction of over 600 tons of chemical agents as part of the Russian-USA agreement.

And this is IMPORTANT, there were no further incidences of the use of chemical weapons between August 21, 2013 and January 20, 2017.  Now, I have no idea what Obama actually said to Putin, but I am confident it went something like this.  “You control your boy Assad or we’re going to take him out.”  And guess what?  Putin must have believed Obama meant business.  Yes, Obama made Putin blink despite, and this is equally IMPORTANT, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives refused to take up a resolution supporting military action in response to the chemical attack.  A president’s word alone used to mean something.

Enter Mr. Tough Guy on January 20, 2017.  On April 4, 2017, Syria again deploys chemical weapons on its own people.  On April 7, while dining with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago, Trump orders the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting Shayrat Airbase.  As we later learned, Trump gave Putin an advanced warning of the missile attack and the airbase was again operational within 24 hours.  Maybe that explains why this man is laughing.

So let’s compare the two actions.  Obama backs off of military action and halts further Syrian use of chemical weapons for the remainder of his time in office.  Within three months of Trump taking office, Syria resumes chemical warfare, no doubt with the blessings or at least tacit approval of the Russian government.  Within 72 hours, Trump takes action by launching over $100 million of U.S. missiles and claims:

There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council. Years of previous attempts at changing Assad’s behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically.

Wrong on two counts.  First, Assad’s behavior had been in check for three and a half years.  And second, as we learned on Saturday, the missile attack in 2017 was ineffective as a deterrent to further deployment of chemical agents against Syrian citizens. Note to anyone in the White House (e.g. Mike Pompeo or John Bolton), this is how diplomacy can be more powerful than military action.

By the way, no one in the mainstream media seems to have picked up on the fact Saturday’s chemical attack on the Dourma neighborhood occurred one year to the day (April 7) after Trump ordered the missile attack on the Shayrat Air Base.  I doubt this is by accident.  If nothing else, in the last 15 months, we have learned Putin allows Trump to occasionally appear to challenge Russia as long as he is no real threat to the Russian government or Putin’s control.  In other words, Trump’s red line in the sand is, “I’m tougher than anyone on Russia.”  But the next wave of inaction against Putin will remind us no writing in the sand is worth much as it disappears as quickly as it is recorded.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP