| Darwinianevolution said: What I'm really curious about is why Asad decided to use chemical weapons now. Pretty much the only major red line most countries established is the use of said weaponry, and he just went and used it now that he was actually winning the war against the ISIS. What's the motivation? |
Lol about "winning against ISIS". This is an organisation that shows up and disappears within days. You might have heard that ISIS was driven from all of their cities in the east. Guess what, as soon as the Syrian troops (and their associated cronies) left the "reconquered" area, ISIS was back in town.
As far as chemical weapons go, terror against the population is an old war mechanism. It sorta started with Sherman's March to the Sea, and has been used ever since. Assad is reasonably safe because a) nobody gives a shit abot dead Syrians b) Russia really wants to keep their naval base in the Middle Sea so they make sure nothing really happens to Assad.
Whoever you believe, the raids last night were either a) a complete miracle success (Trump) b) a more or less complete failure (pretty much every blogger taking pictures on site). It is pretty much clear that whatever facilities (might) have been destroyed can be rebuilt/relocated within a day or two. The only way to send a message to Assad (and his closest "friends") is to totally bomb whatever they personally own.
