A message that the US is not afraid to act if it has reason to do so. It doesn't mean that we have to follow up with anything. It doesn't mean that we won't. This was for Obama's "red line". Next time it might be to emphasize a point in the Iran nuclear treaty or to punish bad behavior from Korea. Our words are meaningless if we are afraid of dicking up a little dust from time to time. There are 4 forces that matter in the world, China, Russia, the USA and The amorphous nation of Islam. All the other actors are bit players and as long as the leads do not come into direct conflict the world will be remain as safe as it ever was.

Hot topic, huh? I think Trump may have had the same reaction to the dying kids that I did. But, when I first saw that video on tv I said out loud, "Look out. I'm not sure Assad would do that." I still think it could have been a false flag. ISIS had very positive reviews of our bombing that followed. That region has been a mess for a long time. Our involvement hasn't helped. With or without video cameras they will continue to stone women to death, gas children, throw people with alternative lifestyles off of tall buildings, etc. I'm still not convinced we should keep meddling in that part of the world. We should either demonstrate our might in a swift action or stay the hell away. Anything in-between will continue to get us what we've got - a mess. I understand that the word in DC now is that we will work to simultaneously remove ISIS and Assad. Oh boy...

My grandmother was a bit of an ole hillbilly. I'm not proud. But, I remember something she used to say, "You stir the sh*t long enough and you'll get some on ya."

I would point out that the first purported gas attack by the Assad regime was later found to be perpetrated by the rebels themselves when they inadvertently punctured the tanks on some stolen agents. They used it as a PR campaign to blame Assad. The conservative media was quick to castigate Obama for drawing a red line and not acting. (Obama should have just come out and said that the rebels gassed their own people but he sides with them and that wouldn't have played well for his ideological narrative so instead he simply said nothing and allowed the mainstream media to cover for him.)

I'm not convinced that Assad used chemical weapons this time either. I'm certainly open to some real evidence, but my personal preference is to leave Syria alone - we have no allies in this fight.

Which one is our enemy? Why a red line when using gas? No one ever watched their child die from gun shot or bomb wounds and said; "Well, at least it wasn't gas!" After 150,000 people have been killed in the civil war while 'leader's' try to ascertain who has the right to use violence against their people to extort taxes and property from them it seems irrelevant to be concerned about women and children and gas.

Initially, I thought the same and that perhaps it was a ruse. However, after some thought, WMDs (Chem, Bio or Radiological) are to be treated like a hot stove top. You touch it, you get burn- immediately. And remember, the same people who told use over and over that they had negotiated removal of all chemical weapons from Syria, are the same people that allowed Syria to self verify. Also they're the same people who gave nuclear technology, latest avionics from Boeing and billions of $ to Iran for "peaceful" use. The same people who also negotiated for Iran to self verify compliance with agreement regarding nuclear program for Iran.

Iran is a country sitting on vast reserves of cheap oil, natural gas and coal. They may have needed more refineries but not nuclear energy.

Historians will point at the Iran deal as the most stunningly stupid blunder in American history. Then again, maybe it wasn't a blunder. Maybe it was by some nefarious design against America.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Hm. Ask Stalin how that worked out. For centuries, Poland and imperial Russia took turns invading each other, so when Hitler suggested the USSR and Germany work together to eliminate the "Polish threat," Stalin jumped at the opportunity. He was so convinced that he could trust Hitler that he refused his generals' demands he reinforce the border with Poland and keep some defense forces on alert. Without massive infusion of U.S. material and supplies, operation Barbarossa would have succeeded.

Turkey appears to have struck a deal with the Devil (multiple devils, in fact) that will eventually be regretted. Russia and Shiite Iran are not friends of Sunni Turkey, and once the current conflict is settled, Turkey will discover the foolishness of that deal. Iran may be Muslim, but it retains Persian dreams of empire. Instead of destroying the Kurds, I expect Iran will offer them a deal to help them carve out a new Kurdistan from Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Russia will exercise its Black Fleet muscle and its Mediterranean port in Syrian Latakia to control access to Turkish ports.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Greece consider joining the Russians in pressuring Turkey as well. After all, the opportunity to regain and rename Istanbul to Constantinople would be tempting.

I realize that poison gas is a bad thing....so bad even the Nazis didn't use it in WW2 [except to kill Jews] But what exactly difference does it make if a child is killed by a bomb, or by gas? They are just as dead. The biggest problem that I can see in modern conflicts is that the world powers interfere and the conflict gets dragged out for decades, instead of one side just winning and it being over. Somebody has to win eventually....the sooner the better. Sure the winner will screw over the looser...but that has got to be better than unending conflict. an unending conflict that spills over on to neighboring areas.

Next time will be the charm! Just one missile dropped on either Assad's or Kim Jong Un's palace with them in it is what will change the narrative. I firmly believe we can't negotiate with such evil so the only options are to either leave them alone or eliminate them.

I agree that Trump made an error, but the premise that the "enemy of our enemy is our friend" is faulty.

Looks like another plant to bring Trump down. Smacks of WMD's of Bush time. As hilly Billy might also say....s..t or get off the pot.
2000 years of Muslim brotherhood fighting themselves. When will it ever end, when will it go away. In the wind.

The Art of War: Kill a chicken to scare the monkey.