There’s mounting evidence that a chemical weapon attack took place in rebel-held Douma in Syria over the weekend. The United States and several of its allies are pointing the finger at the Assad regime, which had been engaged in a long and bloody military operation to dislodge rebels from Eastern Ghouta, a northeastern suburb of Damascus.
The chemical attack leaves President Trump in a compromised political position. Just weeks before, Trump had declared that he wanted US troops out of Syria during a news conference with Baltic States. Now he must respond to an attack that flaunts his own ‘red line,’ drawn nearly a year ago when he ordered the launch of cruise missiles at Syria’s Sharyat air base after reports of a chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun in Idlib.
Whatever President Trump’s ultimate response, one thing is clear: The Douma incident has decreased the odds of a sudden and comprehensive pullout of US troops in the near future.
Impact
- The Trump Show: Syria Edition. Hemmed in by the logic of his own precedent regarding Khan Shaykhun, President Trump has been under considerable pressure to respond to the Douma incident. And respond he did, in classic Trump fashion. First he tweeted his disgust over the atrocity, blamed Putin and Iran for backing Assad, and said that there will be a big price to pay. Then he fired back against Russian warnings that they would shoot down incoming missiles, tweeting: “get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!”. After that, apparently in response to domestic criticisms that he was telegraphing his military moves in precisely the same way that he had once criticized former president Obama for, he tweeted: “Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!” And finally, in their most recent rebuke, the Russians declared that “Russia does not participate in Twitter diplomacy… we support serious approaches.” President Trump has also cancelled a planned trip to Latin America in order to focus on a response to events in Syria.
