Will Racke on April 8, 2018
Sen. John McCain partially blamed President Donald Trump for a suspected poison gas attack in Syria over the weekend, saying his desire to “prematurely” withdraw U.S. troops from the country gave Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad confidence to strike civilians with chemical weapons.
“President Trump last week signaled to the world that the United States would prematurely withdraw from Syria,” the Arizona Republican said Sunday in a statement. “Bashar Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers have heard him, and emboldened by American inaction, Assad has reportedly launched another chemical attack against innocent men, women and children, this time in Douma.”
McCain, who has long argued the U.S. should do more to oust al-Assad, challenged Trump to repeat his response to a similar chemical attack in April 2017, when he ordered a cruise missile strike on a Syrian air base.
“The question now is whether he will do anything about it,” McCain said of Trump, calling for a strike on Syria to “demonstrate that Assad will pay a price for his war crimes.”
At least 40 people were killed and hundreds more injured Saturday in a suspected chemical attack that struck the town of Douma in the besieged Eastern Ghouta enclave near Damascus, according to rescuers and opposition groups. The attack came as Syrian government forces sought to finish off an eight-week offensive against Douma — the last stronghold the Jaish al-Islam group’s Islamist rebels controlled.
More than 1,700 people have been killed in the eastern Ghouta since February, when the Syrian army and allied Russian forces initiated a brutal assault to oust rebel fighters from the area. The fighting has caused a mass displacement of civilians as well: more than 130,000 Syrians have left eastern Ghouta through evacuation agreements between rebels and the government, according to the U.N.
Though it would not be the first time the Assad regime used chemical weapons against civilians, Saturday’s attack raised new questions for the future of the U.S. military intervention in Syria. Trump has been deeply skeptical of a long-term presence there, but influential voices inside and outside the government are calling on the president to change his mind. (RELATED: National Security Bureaucracy Unites In Opposition To Trump’s Syria Position)
Last week, Trump told his top advisers he wanted to maintain a focus on the core mission of defeating the remnants of the Islamic State, after which U.S. troops would come home within six months. Trump’s national security staff pushed back, arguing a long-term U.S. military presence in Syria is needed to prevent ISIS from reconstituting itself and block Iran’s ambitions in the region.
Most of the Washington foreign policy establishment and the national media agree, with editorials in The New York Times and Washington Post arguing against an expedited withdrawal of the 2,000 American troops currently deployed to Syria.
Foreign governments are also pressuring Trump to deepen U.S. involvement in the Syrian conflict. The U.S. should stay there for “at least the mid-term, if not the long-term,” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said, during a stateside tour last week.
Israel has also criticized Trump’s Syria policy, saying it has failed to stop Iran from infiltrating military assets in Syrian territory. Following Saturday’s attack, top Israeli officials called for direct U.S. military action against the Assad regime.
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Makes sense…if the most powerful military in the world tells you they are exiting the fight, launch an attack that has provoked an immediate response in the past BEFORE they actually exit the fight. Something fishy.
‘McCain’ – a new synonym for pure unadulterated hatred.
McCain, once a traitor to his country and his comrades in arms, is now a traitor once again to his President. In essence, John McCain should be in a mental hospital, chained to a wall somewhere, with a gag so he can’t speak his treacherous accusations.
“McCain Partially Blames Trump For Chemical Weapons Attack In Syria”
McCain: Once a turd, always a turd.
Send old goat McCain over there; one way.
amen …pass the cornbread
McCain sux…the flight deck deal deaux
Anyone remember when the opposition to Assad were simply rebels? Then Russia told the world that they were ISIS, and it appears that everyone believes the Russians.
McCain speaks as though he was just hit by a big rock on top of his head.
Wasn’t McCain one of the Senators that applauded Obama and the Russians for “removing” those deadly chemical weapons several years ago? And how is Trump to blame for any of this? McCain is more to blame than Trump.
These Leftist bastards will be blaming Trump for everything for the next hundred years, of course by that time America will be a 3rd world country, because the Dems will have taken over by then. There are too many dumbed down people in America these days, and 10 years from now we’ll all know the truth, you can’t fix stupid!
need to send him back to Nam,he can have a visit with all his old buddies Traitor then traitor now
John “raising ‘Cain”? He’s as crooked as a wild grape vine! If he and Scary Reid was investigated for their USURPING ways in their home state, they would be in PRISON! Went into politics like church mice, came out flush with funds! They HATE our President because HE can’t be BOUGHT! “Cain is a closet Democrat and everyone with at least two brain cells KNOW he is!
McCain is, and always has been, a self centered bag of s@#t. He was NEVER a hero. My description of him closely follows AQUALUNG, – ” snot is running down his nose, greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes…………”
Hurry up and die McCain you worthless Rino scum bag
how can you call John McCain a scumbag….when Ray Charles can see from the grave he is a piece of shiite. I think the stitches over his eye is NOT CANCER but a ploy to keep the heat off his dossier a$$
How the hell can john McCain the traitor ever in his wildest nightmare think President Trump had anything to do with the gas attack by Syria. He has no control of assad.
McCain is an idiot. I can’t believe we ever backed him for president.
McCain is brain dead. No time left for that Nazi coward!
David – I believe McCain’s cancer has been affecting him for years. He is a bitter old man now.
Dynamo; If the Livid, Lethal Left didn’t TRUST this weasel, WHY would they designate HIM to deliver the fictional Dossier to 0’Bama/Sorrows White House? HE was the ONLY one whom they could trust? Wait for copies to show up at a later date! He’s about as trustworthy as Dommler’s invitation to dinner!
Unfortunately, Senator McCain would find reason to blame the POTUS either way. If he would have supported Trump from the beginning of his administration, maybe offer some better counsel, Trump would have had more effective factors to consider in his decisions. I believe the Senator has a real dislike for Trump because he won and McCain lost. Does anyone care what the Senator has to say anymore. I for one do not.
Just maybe his terminal cancer is making him loose common sense and rationality ! Sorry. Mr.Mc Cain, no offense !
This clown has no common sense, nor does he have a brain. He is a very SICK individual, who needs to be sent packing. He relies on the sympathy of others and has been very embittered since he lost his presidential bid. Because of this, he’s against every Republican who has done what he was unable to do – WIN THE PRESIDENCY.
John McCain’s brain cancer has proceeded to destroy John’s ability to be rational and have control of his mind, John’s days are numbered and he has every intention destroying the party that cast him aside as a presidential contender.
We will see and hear more of this man who is mentally unfit to serve in congress in military terms he is a SHORT TIMER and the sooner the better
McCain has gone from war hero to RINO and empty suit. I no longer support McCain’s POV
@JBurtonXP, who writes: “What kind of upside-down, nightmare world are we living in where the President is deploying troops to secure our own borders rather than random stretches of Middle Eastern desert halfway across the world from us?”
This RINO has been brain dead every since he turned his back on Veterans, so why should you be suprised about the crap coming out of his mouth now?
McCain has COMPLETELY lost it. The brain cancer must have eliminated his ability to think clearly. You might think McCain has become a liberal!
And who’s fingerprints was all over the fake dossier? Senator McCain you need to retire and go out to pasture.
I know this sounds thoughtless, but McCain won’t be around much longer. He is a disgrace. I have lived in Arizona for over 35 years and his behavior is despicable. His whole life has been a lie since he was a prisoner of war…just ask any Navy man who served with him. He’s a bitter old man.
And yet, Arizona has continuously re elected him six 1980.
Yes, just like his butt buddy Lindsey Grahamnesty but I’m in SC now and that weasel Grahamnesty better start packing his bags. The penultimate examples of the establishment and why things no longer work in our Congress.
Songbird has long been a disgrace!
Cancer seems be eating Mcinsane brains out ,
The song bird should have gone home a long time ago…better yet should have
been court-martialed when repatriated for violating Code of Conduct
Only reason they did not is his father was an admiral.
The most egregious part is he has milked his POW status for personal gain ever since.
His Co POWs got a lot to say against John McCain. They don’t consider him a hero,he’s a traitor. They wrote a book about him.
John McCain needs to retire and go away. He is an old rhino. I an tired of his antics. With all due respect of course.
Jim, you are right. McCain has lost sight of his responsibilities to serving the people and supporting conservatives nation wide. Many times it appears that he says things just to make himself relevant, but misses the point and does more harm than good.
With all due respect, he should retire ASAP and pay attention to his own health.