There are people on all sides of the political continuum entirely missing the reason for President Trump to threaten Bashir Assad publicly. Key word to understanding the Trump motive is: “publicly“.
President Trump, according to all high-brow punditry, is breaking diplomatic and national security norms by announcing the threat of punishment publicly instead of directly to Assad via a back-channel like Russia. However, that approach appears entirely by design; not by some arbitrary dispatch or happenstance breech of security protocol.
Here’s the big picture.
♦ FIRST – Who benefits from the U.S. attacking, weakening or taking out Assad?
Four primary groups:
- #1) Assad’s political opposition.
- #2) Islamic Extremist groups (ISIS, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra et al) ie. The Muslim Brotherhood.
- #3) Turkey and Recep Erdogan; and
- #4) John McCain, Evan McMullin, Adam Kinzinger, the industrial war complex and neo-cons etc.
♦ SECOND – President Trump doesn’t want to engage in Syria beyond the elimination of ISIS (al-Qaeda, al-Nusra) etc. Trump’s announced strategy is to defeat the Islamic extremists, ISIS; and then work on a regional governorship type structure toward a diplomatic internal political solution (Rex Tillerson).




