Hold everything. It’s getting too hot in the kitchen; time to pull some bullshit or other and force the media to kiss “presidential” ass for a bit.
The White House released a very public threat to Syria Monday evening over supposed preparations to use chemical weapons.
Washington Post
White House says Syria’s Assad preparing another chemical attack, warns of ‘heavy’ penalty
The White House issued an ominous warning to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday night, pledging that his regime would pay a "heavy price" if it carried out another chemical attack this year.
In a statement, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that the United States had detected evidence of preparations for a chemical attack, similar to the preparations that occurred before an attack in April.
I’m dying to know what their story on this “evidence” is. I suspect this is all about creating a “beautiful” diversion for the media. But why ever would i think that?
Syria Will ‘Pay a Heavy Price’ for Another Chemical Attack, White House Says
Several military officials were caught off guard by the statement from President Trump’s press secretary, but it was unclear how closely held the intelligence regarding a potential chemical attack was.
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While the White House’s motivation in releasing the highly unusual statement is uncertain, it is possible that Mr. Trump or his advisers decided a public warning to Mr. Assad might deter another chemical strike.
It might deter bad press about what a crook Trump is, too. At least for a little while. Which makes this all that much more skeazy—kill some people, all to change the subject for a few press cycles.
Why so jaded? Well, i’ve never swallowed the story about the supposed chemical weapons strike back in April, for starters. And now, Seymour Hersh has just published a bombshell that pretty well shows just what bullshit those claims were.
Tip o’ the hat to Kossack William Beyer: SY HERSH SAYS TRUMP LIED ABOUT SARIN IN SYRIA
Hersh’s story was published in German media,which many of you may find suspicious. I urge you all to go read the article, and accompanying transcripts, and ponder for yourself how much of a slam-dunk was that evidence back in April.
Trump’s Red Line
Russian and Syrian intelligence officials, who coordinate operations closely with the American command posts, made it clear that the planned strike on Khan Sheikhoun was special because of the high-value target. “It was a red-hot change. The mission was out of the ordinary – scrub the sked,” the senior adviser told me. “Every operations officer in the region" – in the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, CIA and NSA – “had to know there was something going on. The Russians gave the Syrian Air Force a guided bomb and that was a rarity. They’re skimpy with their guided bombs and rarely share them with the Syrian Air Force. And the Syrians assigned their best pilot to the mission, with the best wingman.” The advance intelligence on the target, as supplied by the Russians, was given the highest possible score inside the American community.
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If we get a hot tip that could help the Russians do their mission, that’s coordination; and the Russians do the same for us. When we get a hot tip about a command and control facility,” the adviser added, referring to the target in Khan Sheikhoun, “we do what we can to help them act on it." “This was not a chemical weapons strike,” the adviser said. “That’s a fairy tale.
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The target was struck at 6:55 a.m. on April 4, just before midnight in Washington. A Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) by the U.S. military later determined that the heat and force of the 500-pound Syrian bomb triggered a series of secondary explosions that could have generated a huge toxic cloud that began to spread over the town, formed by the release of the fertilizers, disinfectants and other goods stored in the basement, its effect magnified by the dense morning air, which trapped the fumes close to the ground.
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U.S. intelligence was tasked with establishing what had happened. Among the pieces of information received was an intercept of Syrian communications collected before the attack by an allied nation. The intercept, which had a particularly strong effect on some of Trump’s aides, did not mention nerve gas or sarin, but it did quote a Syrian general discussing a “special” weapon and the need for a highly skilled pilot to man the attack plane. The reference, as those in the American intelligence community understood, and many of the inexperienced aides and family members close to Trump may not have, was to a Russian-supplied bomb with its built-in guidance system. “If you’ve already decided it was a gas attack, you will then inevitably read the talk about a special weapon as involving a sarin bomb,” the adviser said. “Did the Syrians plan the attack on Khan Sheikhoun? Absolutely. Do we have intercepts to prove it? Absolutely. Did they plan to use sarin? No. But the president did not say: ‘We have a problem and let’s look into it.’ He wanted to bomb the shit out of Syria.”
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"What doesn't occur to most Americans" the adviser said, "is if there had been a Syrian nerve gas attack authorized by Bashar, the Russians would be 10 times as upset as anyone in the West. Russia’s strategy against ISIS, which involves getting American cooperation, would have been destroyed and Bashar would be responsible for pissing off Russia, with unknown consequences for him. Bashar would do that? When he’s on the verge of winning the war? Are you kidding me?”
I don’t mean to cast stones, because there were some really good organisations coming down on the “Syrians did it” side. But they were almost certainly wrong.
Go read Hersh in full. And then think about these latest headlines, and what it means.
“The issue is, what if there’s another false flag sarin attack credited to hated Syria? Trump has upped the ante and painted himself into a corner with his decision to bomb. And do not think these guys are not planning the next faked attack. Trump will have no choice but to bomb again, and harder. He’s incapable of saying he made a mistake.”
But he can nonetheless use it to change the subject for the moment.
We’ll see how long the Russians put up with it this time. Do not be surprised if a US jet is shot down real soon. They’re more than capable of doing it.