1. A poison gas attack occurred, maybe, in Douma, Syria, an area held by opponents of Assad.
2. Assad is winning the war on the ground. In actuality, he has no reason to use poison gas on anybody and risk more outside involvement. If the gas attack occurred at all, signs seems to point to a possible false flag operation, designed to get the US involved against Assad.
3. Trump knows all of this. He is a lot smarter than me and has access to much better intelligence, I think.
4. Trump knows also that, when you are being provoked like this, the best response is to do nothing. There will be no missile attack on Syria over this.
5. To make it look like he is actually doing something, Trump has moved significant naval forces into the area. This has forced the Russians to sortie their fleet in the Med and has scared the Syrians, I'm sure. It has also put the US in position for kinetic action if needed in the future. For now, the presence of a carrier battle group in the Eastern Med will have a considerable calming effect on everyone's behavior.
5. Being the genius that he is, Trump has decided to go with a course of action that faces Putin down and gives the US military a chance to monitor Russian tactics, communications, and radar operations.
The world is lucky to have this guy as POTUS.
It has also put the US in position for kinetic action if needed in the future. For now, the presence of a carrier battle group in the Eastern Med will have a considerable calming effect on everyone's behavior.
Yes, I believe that, notwithstanding any other moves, this alone has greatly yanked Putin's chain. Any guesses on how ready his Med fleet is for action, let alone how seaworthy it is? It does give us an opportunity to gather intelligence (of course we would be expected to do that routinely). It also has forced Putin's troops and 'advisors' on the ground to take up defensive positions and likely has disrupted many of their plans.
Cat and mouse, anyone?
great post!