Left I on the News

If you think Trump is wrong and lies about literally everything, but is suddenly telling the truth about a chemical attack by the Syrian government, perhaps you need to think more deeply.

Here are two simple facts for you:

1) The Syrian government and the rebels holed up in Ghouta reached an agreement this weekend that the rebels would leave within 48 hours (Syria had already defeated and driven out almost all the rebels; this was just the remaining "pocket" of them). The war in that area was effectively over.
And 2) As this article makes clear, many of the civilians remaining in the area were effectively being held captive, prevented from leaving by the rebels, not by the government. The people killed (if indeed there were people killed, which is not a given at all) were likely supporters of the government, not opponents.


Now put that information together with the headline shown above — just as Trump announces he wants to get out of Syria "soon, very soon", and just as the Syrian government is about to be in total control of the area in question, all of a sudden a militarily useless "chemical attack" materializes out of nowhere, pulling the U.S. back in, with fevered calls from U.S. "action" from all quarters ranging from Lindsay "Never met a war he didn't like" Graham to Howard "The antiwar Democrat" Dean, not to mention other actors including the Israeli government. There are multiple suspects for who might benefit from this attack. The Syrian government is not among them. Likewise there are multiple countries and groups who will benefit from a U.S. response. The Syrian government is also not among them.