The Associated Press is reporting a story from a “Senior U.S. Official” stating the U.S. has evidence the Russian military knew in advance of the Chemical Weapon attack in Syria last week.

Beyond the headline and vague sourcing for the claim, this AP report is stunning on multiple levels. Why would a “senior U.S. official” release such a controversial statement/story just 36 hours before Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to arrive in Russia?

Obviously anyone with any degree of diplomatic understanding would know this leak would be seriously controversial with T-Rex about to meet Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and possibly Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

Is T-Rex being set up? Or is this leak part of a U.S. strategy? Either option is entirely possible.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior U.S. official says the United States has concluded that Russia knew in advance of Syria’s chemical weapons attack last week.

The official says a Russian-operated drone flew over a hospital in Syria as victims of the attack were rushing to get treatment.

Hours after the drone left, a Russian-made fighter jet bombed the hospital in what American officials believe was an attempt to cover up the usage of chemical weapons.

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Serious business for T-Rex. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson allows his shoes to gather no dust.  After meeting in DC with Egypt’s President Fattah al-Sisi then Jordan’s King Abdullah II, and a two day Florida summit with President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping where he diplomatically navigated through bombing the sh!t out of an airbase in Syria and explained the bosses approach to N-Korea, T-Rex deplanes in Pisa Italy…

(Reuters) Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven major industrialized nations meet on Monday for an annual gathering, with Europe and Japan seeking clarity from the United States on an array of issues, especially Syria.

The two-day summit in Tuscany comes as the United States moves a Navy strike group near the Korean peninsular amid concerns over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and as the West’s relations with Russia struggle to overcome years of mistrust.

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Before getting to the interviews by current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mrs. Rubio vis-à-vis Syria, it is important to reassert reference points that are being intentionally overlooked by media; reference points the MSM pundits intentionally hide.

Point One – Russia, Iran and Syria’s President Bashir Assad care primarily about one thing: keeping Bashir Assad in power.  All other influential objectives are secondary to this primary intention.  All of the actions taken by Russia, Iran and the Syrian Government are specifically focused on keeping Bashir Assad in power.

Point Two – All historic action taken by the Russian, Iranian and Syrian participants are to eliminate the opposition to Assad.  Goal #1 keep Assad in power, necessitates goal #2 eliminate Assad’s opposition.

Point Three – So long as Russia, Iran and the Syrian Regime can use the terrorism of ISIS as a foil they will continue to do so.   As long as the appearance of Assad fighting ISIS remains the cognitive reference point of the international community – it is easier to keep Assad in power.

Point Four – Therefore the continued ground action of ISIS becomes a tool, a foil, to keep pressure away from the international community focusing on Assad’s removal.

Point Five – It is currently more beneficial for the objectives of Russia and Iran for the ISIS terrorism narrative to remain in place.  The Syrian regime can survive with Assad, and accomplish the agenda of Russia and Iran,  so long as the appearance of fighting ISIS remains the international optic.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared on two Sunday news programs today ABC (Stephanopoulos), and CBS (Dickerson) to describe the seismic foreign policy events of the past week.

The first interview, T-Rex explains the U.S. policy directly to John Dickerson:

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T-Rex outlines the appropriate distribution of responsibility for the chemical weapons attack in Syria.

Metaphor – A dangerously moldy red book keeps reappearing on the boardroom desk (the mid-east).  No-one in the room will take responsibility for its origination. U.S. President Trump walks into the room, picks up the book and angrily, publicly, throws it in the trash.

Trump then looks sternly at the most influential task management in the room (Putin/Assad) and tells them deliberately: ‘if the book reappears they will be held to account’. 

The entire organization (world) watched, and saw, the event.  President Trump has assigned responsibility for the future, and accountability for the consequence.

The second interview delivered the same message. T-Rex appears on ABC with George Stephanopoulos.

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There is a predictable disconnect amid political followers who have not paid close attention to the direct Mid-East visitors to the Donald Trump White House regarding the origin of the chemical weapons use in Syria.

Focusing on who used chemical weapons is a moot point in the larger issue of the Syrian conflict. It doesn’t matter whether ISIS “rebels” deployed them or whether Bashir Assad used them against the “rebels” when contemplating President Trump’s response to stop using them. The victims are Syrians. The regional alliance members don’t care who used them. The message is to stop.

We could make a solid argument that either interested party: Bashir Assad or “the rebels” (al-Qaeda, ISIS, al-Nusra et al) had motive and opportunity to use chemical weapons.

We’ve written for several years about the manipulative intentions of both sides, all sides, in the Syrian conflict. We’ve written about President Obama’s policies toward Syria and how his administration armed and equipped all elements; gaining nothing except a horrific death toll and chaotic civil war as an outcome.

We’ve provided lengthy and cited research on arms into Syria from Obama, Clinton and Kerry. The Benghazi Brief outlined Man-Pads and chemical weapons delivered to Syria as an outcome of the collapse within Libya.  We’ve outlined the Libyan weapons caches that became the Jihadist market/yard-sale. We’ve also documented weapons deliveries directly from the State Department using actual recorded audio admissions of Secretary Kerry to his Syrian benefactors.

Additionally, no-one questions whether Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, Assad’s BFF, delivered stock piles of his own chemical weapons to Syria, because it was well documented.  Both Bashir Assad and Saddam Hussein previously used chemical weapons.   Historically Hussein used Chemical Weapons to kill up to 300,000 Kurds in Northern Iraq.

None of this is in doubt.

To argue if Assad used chemical weapons again last week is really an irrelevant issue when you stop and think about Bashir Assad’s political position in 2017. (more…)

Political commentator and extraordinarily brilliant satirist Mark Steyn was on Fox and Friends this morning to provide his perspective on President Trump’s decision to take action in Syria.

Steyn brilliantly frames the issues. [Hat Tip Stella]

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Additionally, a point that apparently needs to be made. Idiot MSM pundits like Jake Tapper, though it’s not exclusive to Tapper, keep pointing out the 2013 tweet by President Trump warning Obama about action in Syria and framing their narrative about “what changed?” etc.

Just for clarity. Between the 2013 tweet by non candidate Trump and the 2017 action by President Trump, there was a 2014 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) voted and approved by Senate committee  permitting military action in Syria against the backdrop of chemical weapon use and terrorism.

I swear sometimes the MSM are flippin’ idiots, then I remind myself of the David Mamet principle: “In order for left-wing ideologues to keep espousing their cognitively disconnected talking points they need to pretend they don’t know things.”

Yes, indeed.  Pretending not to know things is a useful pretense.

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Today President Trump and President Xi JinPing of China conducted bi-lateral meetings to discuss ongoing concerns surrounding trade, finance, military engagement, and the need for China to assist in leverage over North Korea’s hostilities.

[Transcript] 11:22 A.M. EDT – PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I just want to say that President Xi and all of his representatives have been really interesting to be with.  I think we have made tremendous progress in our relationship with China.  My representatives have been meeting one-on-one with their counterparts from China.  And I think, truly, progress has been made.  We’ll be making a lot of additional progress.

The relationship developed by President Xi and myself I think is outstanding.  We look forward to being together many times in the future.  And I believe lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away.

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The Pentagon clearly outlines the reason for President Trump’s strategic and selected military response.  The U.S. is stating evidence that Bashir Assad did launch chemical weapons from this exact airbase, and Russia was willfully blind in their complicity.

U.S. Pentagon – At the direction of the president, U.S. forces conducted a cruise missile strike against a Syrian Air Force airfield today at about 8:40 p.m. EDT (4:40 a.m., April 7, in Syria).  The strike targeted Shayrat Airfield in Homs governorate, and was in response to the Syrian government’s chemical weapons attack April 4 in Khan Sheikhoun, which killed or injured hundreds of innocent Syrian people, including women and children.

The strike was conducted using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) launched from the destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.  A total of 59 TLAMs targeted aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air defense systems, and radars.   As always, the U.S. took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict. Every precaution was taken to execute this strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield.

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President Trump is anticipated to deliver remarks to the nation tonight:

– The targeted single airfield is Sharyat airbase in NW Syria, near Homs – The alleged source of chemical attack – Approximately 60 missiles fired – Russian military was informed in advance – Congressional Gang-of-Eight was notified in advance –

UPDATE: Video of President Trump remarks added:

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WASHINGTON – The United States has fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria Thursday night in retaliation for this week’s gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians, U.S. officials said.

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President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife to a summit at Mar-a-lago, President Trump’s private Florida beach resort and residence.

President Xi and his wife were greeted by President Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate before making their way to dinner.

Ahead of the dinner, Trump said he and Xi already had had a long discussion and had “developed a friendship,” and then joked, “I have gotten nothing, absolutely nothing.”

The White House said the location was selected to give the two days of discussions a more relaxed feel. A number of Trump’s top advisers were in attendance, including his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.  (AP report)

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