Discussion » Questions » Politics » Bipartisan Support From Lawmakers After Trump’s Military Action In Syria? Your Views, Please?
Benedict Arnold

Bipartisan Support From Lawmakers After Trump’s Military Action In Syria? Your Views, Please?

Quoting Yahoo News:
Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, called the military action a “proportional response.”
And,
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a vocal critic of Trump, said: “Making sure Assad knows that when he commits such despicable atrocities he will pay a price is the right thing to do.”

Here, according to Yahoo News, is what Trump was responding to: At least 70 people, including 20 children, were killed in the gas attack (by Assad forces) in northern Syria.

The cynical view: Historically, a president's approval ratings rise after military action; and Trump's have been very low - even losing among white men, his staunchest supporters.

https://gma.yahoo.com/trump-approval-rating-likely-boost-200001528.html

Do we have enough information to assess Trump's action?

Posted - April 9, 2017
Tags : None

Responses


  • Ah yes we have.. I think during the ejection early stages trump was telling Obama to not respond to a then had attack Assad had launched... Call me cynical, yes, but they're his words
      April 9, 2017 5:12 PM MDT
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  • Ozgirl...how then do you perceive the positive response from Democratic minority Congressional leaders, virtually the first bipartisan support Trump has received since taking office?

    Giving Trump the benefit of the doubt, I can see that things could appear differently when you are in the office, rather than trying anything possible to get into it...just playing devil's advocate...?
      April 9, 2017 5:46 PM MDT
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  • Playing devils advocate is good.. Forces you to justify rather than just talk :)
    In short, I don't know... But a thought is that traditionally in times of crisis everyone gets behind the government and the President... Just a guess in this case. Perhaps this also plays to they're agenda, high I don't see how right now... Not much help am I?
      April 9, 2017 5:51 PM MDT
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  • Ozgirl your comments are always helpful, always given thought.
    For the first time after a presidential election, I have moments of fear - then hope my fear is unfounded.
    It is good to look at all ideas, I feel sure, because all the people of the world will be bearing the consequences now.
      April 9, 2017 6:20 PM MDT
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  • Well I never did have much respect for Pelosi or Schumer to be honest.

    Honestly I want to see some  proof that Assad actually launched the chemical attack.  Not sure he is responsible. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at April 10, 2017 7:39 PM MDT
      April 9, 2017 5:53 PM MDT
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  • 3191
    Given that just days prior to the attack both Haley and Tillerson indicated that ousting Assad was no longer a priority, I really doubt he was responsible.
      April 9, 2017 6:03 PM MDT
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  • Plus have you seen all the media photos of aid workers wearing nothing but a paper respirator?   Something isn't right there.   Not when it's VX and Sarin nerve agents.
    Not to mention those are the same agents that has been used multiple  times by the ISIS rebels.
    I'm not buying it right now.  There are numerous things that don't make sense about it being Assad.   I really think it was an accidental discharge of an ISIS cache.

    None of that matters really.  For those two or anyone to say it's a "proportional response" is bullcrap.   It has nothing to do with us and we have no reason to respond to it even if it was Assad.  
    I like anyone cannot defend Assad or say he's a good guy.    However what does his removal accomplish other than opening the door for an even worse regime and give ISIS or some other islamic group a vacuum to fill?    Who does that benefit? These people all just want to cause as much chaos and war as they possibly can and Trump has nothing to do with it really, it's way, way bigger than him.
      April 9, 2017 6:15 PM MDT
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  • 3191
    Agreed on all counts, especially that it is none of our business, and that removing Assad would likely open the door for worse or continued chaos.  

    A couple of years ago, a tape was leaked of a conversation among Turkish officials discussing possibly using a false flag to justify military action in Syria.  While the leak was decried, the conversation was not denied.  

    https://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/world/europe/high-level-leaks-rattle-turkey-officials.html?referer=

    It may very well have been an accidental discharge.  The PTB aren't about to let a good crisis go to waste, though.
      April 9, 2017 6:45 PM MDT
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  • Honestly I kinda forgot about that.
    Turkish officials and Erdogan have been caught and quoted saying a LOT of things that are just ignored and let slide but are extremely unsettling and frightening.
      April 9, 2017 7:23 PM MDT
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  • 3191
    https://www.google.com/amp/s/sputniknews.com/amp/politics/201704091052469987-erdogan-europe-accountable-turkey-referendum/
      April 9, 2017 7:42 PM MDT
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  • YUP!!  That was one I was thinking of in particular.

    Where he says it's turkish expats duty to reproduce as mush as possible just to outnumber the countries own ethnic groups so they will be forced to submit is another one.
    Where he gets this idea that turkey has been oppressed is beyond me.   I guess it was because they weren't able to kill every last Albanian and had a a slight slap on the wrist for it.
      April 9, 2017 7:48 PM MDT
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  • 3191
    That comment was included in the article, too.  Given the number of immigrants from the ME in Europe, it is not a statement to take lightly.  Western societies are not reproducing at replacement rate.  Sure, it will take time, but if it continues, those currently native to a western nation will eventually find themselves in the minority.  
      April 9, 2017 8:07 PM MDT
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  • THAT...and then Bozette's comment ... the kind of observation that, I think, needs to be considered.
    ty
      April 9, 2017 6:22 PM MDT
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  • Strong action was probably justified; Assad needs to be aware that his actions are not without repercussion. Even so, I'd be happier if there was a more reasonable mind in charge.

    As for cynicism? Maggie Thatcher wasn't looking too strong until Argentina annexed the Falklands and she sent the military off to stir up some national pride. She seems to have seen herself as a modern Boudica. President Dubya wasn't running high in the popularity stakes until his War on Terror. It transformed his public image from Doofus to Action-Doofus and probably ensured his second term. Could the same thing happen for Trump? Sheesh! This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at April 10, 2017 7:59 PM MDT
      April 9, 2017 8:22 PM MDT
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  • Dozy, I felt the same concern...could this bolster Trump's standing?
      April 9, 2017 10:12 PM MDT
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  • He's cunning enough, and unscrupulous enough, to give it a try.
      April 9, 2017 10:42 PM MDT
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  • When I was reading up on this Dozy, I saw that Trump's ratings have just dropped lower than Obama's EVER were, just before Trump took the actions in Syria...plus Obama left with exceptionally high ratings...I hope you and I are wrong here, but I am concerned.
    Evil Pink and Bozette, above, even express doubts of Assad's culpability.
      April 9, 2017 10:50 PM MDT
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  • Assad could have been set up -- look at Saddam's WMD -- but he has a horrific record. At thios stage I wouldn't be giving much credibility to a conspiracy theory derived from something called "Sputnik News". I'll wait for the Guardian or the NYT to get behind it first.
      April 10, 2017 12:05 AM MDT
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  • 3191
    I'm not sure exactly what kind of "conspiracy theory" you saw at the Sputnik link, Didge, as it was simply quoting a statement made by Erdogan.  But here you go...is Radio Free Europe good enough for you?  It reports exactly the same thing, btw, that Erogan said Europe will pay.

    https://www.google.com/amp/www.rferl.org/amp/28420141.html This post was edited by Bozette at April 10, 2017 8:39 AM MDT
      April 10, 2017 12:58 AM MDT
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  • Thanks, Bozette. Sputnik and Radio Free Europe are probably very good news sources but there are so many out there on the Net that I tend to stick to the half a dozen I know are reliable. Three are in the States, one is in Oz, two are the UK, and the other is Reuters. (That's seven.)

    Sorry, I wasn't intentionally putting down your comments. Perhaps if I'd read the source you quoted I'd have seen it in the same light you did. It's just that so much inaccurate news is bandied about that I tend to dismiss what I can't (or in this case, didn't take time) to confirm.
      April 10, 2017 2:03 AM MDT
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  • 7683
    In a letter to Congress, Trump said his aim was to "degrade the Syrian military's ability to conduct further chemical weapons attacks and to dissuade the Syrian regime from using or proliferating chemical weapons, thereby promoting the stability of the region and averting a worsening of the region's current humanitarian catastrophe."

    The suspected April 4 nerve gas attack on rebel-held Khan Sheikhoun that killed over 80 people, many of them children, “is a complete disaster. Assad slaughtered more than 1,000 people with poison gas in 2013.How is he different from Adolf Hitler, the only difference is the method, now there are no gas chambers.

    Dear Virginia so who is the sufferer, the common man, Assad remains alive and well and Trump remains trumpeting about his move.

    Politics is a dirty game, played by nefarious politicians be it Trump, Putin, Assad or any politician anywhere in the world. 

    Let us not deceive ourselves, the half hearted attempts are just a farce nothing else I feel my friend!
      April 10, 2017 7:54 PM MDT
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  • Thank you Veena.K, your thoughts are helpful...
    I am looking for some light here, some integrity, but that is seeming doubtful...more of the same-old, same-old.
      April 10, 2017 8:41 PM MDT
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