General John Nicholson; he ordered MOAB drop.

Friday, 14 April (Early Edition):

The people in the Trumpian universe must have their heads spinning.

Is the 45th President backtracking on key promises? Or is he adjusting on the fly to realities on the ground? Both, perhaps?

As Donald Trump approaches his 100 day mark -and don't forget the progressives hoped to have driven him out by now- the pundit class is pounding the airwaves with all sorts of guesswork and supposition.

The media has always had a moth/flame attraction to Trump; it's one of the major reason he won. The biggest mistake his adversaries made, and continue to make, is underestimating him. They did the same with Bush the younger, and he got the better of them for 8 years.

Of course, he had the deep state solidly in his corner and a dad who was CIA director.

Trump has none of these advantages; indeed he is both hated and feared by these same entities. But all of a sudden he's playing neocon ball.

Or is he? Think about it.

With the pressure on both sides miring his presidency down he needed to do something. This is where the advice of Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner was invaluable. He just HAD to at least appear he is making some concessions.

As much as he and the unfairly maligned Steve Bannon wanted to make dramatic, and sweeping changes they were always in a precarious position. The deep state made sure constant pressure was applied, and the fraudulent Russiagate issue was weaponized.

One more time. No matter WHAT contacts he had with Russia, none of this was illegal. We are not in a state of war with them, and the previous crowd had extensive contact and shady dealings with them.

It's always been a lie, and not a very good one.

So, when the chemical attack occurred, he was forced to make a move. He chose one that had a lot of good public relations to it that had no other real significance. Then, after another series of leaks (illegal) shifted the narrative back to the spy thing, the MOAB break came.

It was not his decision. But he gave the green light to the battlefield commander, they used the proper munitions to address the situation, and Trump got the 'bump'; Rasmussen has him at 48% (ignore Gallup, it uses a dated model still) and the pundits are all amazed at how he's 'growing into the job'.

Once again, what did he do?

Nowhere near as much as his former critics are giving him credit for, nor as bad as his supporters are wailing about.

The 'former critics', almost all neocons, are trying to 'direct him' to their desired policy goal. His voters want whaat he promised. The media, trying to drive a wedge there, is making hay out of his 'failed promises' even as they celebrate the change.

However, there is at least as much evidence that he and his inner circle are actually using this current reality to affect change. The Syria conflict is something that was winding down; Assad was busy wiping out the last of the resisitance.

But the desire to reach a setttlement with his retention of power was almost certainly a mistake. He had agreed previously to step aside after the conflict was resolved. He recently changed his mind.

He was buoyed by the Russian assistance and the laisseiz faire approach of the new administration. Assad got greedy, and this became a real problem, not only for the west but for Russia as well.

They just want the buffer state and the port at Tartus.

These needs can be addressed; the disagreement over just who did the chemical attack is a pretext to resoulution. It doesn't make any difference, really.

So, by backing Russia up a bit it takes the deep state heat off of the administration, and sets up a path to peace. This was not there two weeks ago.

It was a mopup for a victory that would have never really worked in the long run. No matter what one thinks of Assad, a dentist who had to take over a country he didn't want to rule, there was no way he coud remain in power permanently.

Too much blood on his hands.

Now, as far as the MOAB blast in Afghanistan, this was just serendipitous timing. The on site commander wanted to 'go after the rats' that hid in the cave complex. They were doing hit and run attacks on coalition forces and then returning to the caves.

This device solved that. A hyperbaric explosive, it's overpressure forces air OUT of the tunnels, and asphyxiation occurs. Not to mention all munitions in the network will ignite. Very nasty bit of business.

ISIS was taking over for the Taliban forces that had moved on. This was not a good development; this is no longer Mullah Omar and his band of pirates. This was turning into a headquarters for Daesh, or whatever they want to call them.

Trump ran on defeating them. He is keeping a promise.

Meanwhile, Jeff Sessions is running a single handed campaign to halt illegal immigration that is working spectacularly. The Open Borders crowd is besides itself, but the war stuff is keeping them off the front page.

Another win for Trump. He is gaining the foothold on the government he needs; the progressives will NEVER stop trying to drive him out, so this was very important. He is also advancing the ball policy-wise.

Health care reform might just be a couple weeks away.

As Rush Limbaugh said, do not underestimate just HOW many want to see him fail, Republicans included. 

Trump's high wire act will continue for awhile, so get used to it...

hello? Is anybody home? the MOAB moments before it hits.

Thursday, 13 April (Early Edition):

The US military, freed of micromanagement and restrictive ROE's (rules of engagement) by the Trump administration just sent another 'message' to those who would engage our forces.

It's a very simple, very old warning. There is NO hole deep enough for you to hide in. By allowing the on-site command to use whatever weapons they have in their stockpile, Washington greenlit the use of the GBU-43.

It packs 21,000 pounds of high explosive. It is the largest, single weapon of it's type that is non nuclear. This description describes it's design properties:

The MOAB is not a penetrator weapon and is primarily intended for soft to medium surface targets covering extended areas and targets in a contained environment such as a deep canyon or within a cave system.

MOAB means 'massive ordinance air blast', and is more commonly referred to as the 'mother of all bombs', which is not an exaggeration. It is the perfect weapon to use in a valley with connected cave complexes, which describes Afghanistan to a 'T'.

This is usually a weapon that needs Presidential approval. That is most likely still true, but Trump has given his on site military commanders the freedom to do what is needed. There is little doubt that this munition 'rattled some cages'.

What something like this does is change a stalled dynamic. Taliban forces have been able to do hit and run raids with the knowledge that the rules of engagement restricted how the US led Afghan forces could respond.

Perhaps some of you have seen some specials on Afghanistan and the combat there. It has been, without doubt, as bad a duty station that has ever existed. Harsh and unrelenting, with an enemy who is fighting the way they did against all comers for the last 1,000 years, our politicians made it infinitely more difficult by handcuffing the military.

It is the opinion of this site that the US should get out of the whole region.

That said, the Trump administration inherited the world it is, not the one thy would like it to be. And if you are in a conflict, well, RESOLVE the damn thing.

Just like Syria, and Korea.

This is not 'warmongering'; that is what the neocon element wants. New wars, nice costly ones. This is cleaning up the crap from the previous adminstrations.

The last two, to be certain, and really going back to Bush 41. He started the war without end with the Kuwait incursion, which just ended up causing Desert Storm.

And yes, this is but another message, one the fat inbred in N Korea will be no doubt paying attention to, as will his benefactors. This also takes some of the heat off of the Russia issue, which needs to cool down.

Russia is in near 'freak out' mode, and one can only hope that Rex Tillerson had the type of chat with Putin that we suspect it to be; let's 'take advantage of Assad's woes for your benefit'.

This is the type of president his supporters thought he would be. He may not be starting anything, but he's sure determined to END things... 

an escape clause for ol' Vlad? Stay tuned.

Wednesday, 12 April (Evening Wrap):

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson went to Russia and met with his counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. However, as predicted here he also met with Vladimir Putin beforehand, in a 2 hour briefing that was referred to as 'substantive'.

You can bet your bottom dollar it was.

They then had a very terse press conference. They made assertions, accusations, and thin strands of a comprehensive strategy peeked out occasionally. Lost in all the Russia hoopla is the fact that Trump used his economic threats to a wary China into a now blossoming relationship.

Russia abstained on the UN Security council vote to reprimand Syria. This is a big deal.

They have also turned on client state North Korea, turning back coal deliveries (N Korea gets hard cash for every transaction) and darkly hinting they were at their wits' end with the manic behavior shown by the leadership.

Much the same was gotten from Russia, where they have clearly stated that the survival of Haffez Assad's regime is not necessarily a Russian imperative.  Through all of this a coherent foreign policy is emerging.

The US, whom the world has traditionally looked up to, has assumed that mantle once again. Many of Trump's supporters are a little wary of all this, and the missile attack upset many. But this is all fitting some puzzle pieces together.

As much as the administration would like to key in on domestic policy and stay out of nation building and the endless war, they EXIST. This has been US foreign policy for nigh on 25 years now.

Going back to Desert Shield in 1991.

The reality is this couldn't be ignored, nor could it be turned around in short order. This doesn't even address the desire of the deep state to continue the plunder of the last 15 years, starting with deposing Saddam Hussein.

It was a terrible foreign policy decision, as was Qadafi in Libya, which was even worse. In the abstract Assad wasn't as big a threat.

But the conflict in Syria has taken it's toll on everyone. There is little doubt that Assad could remain as the leader; when hundreds of thousands of your own people have died -and millions more displaced- it makes further rule impossible.

Simply put, the country will need a fresh start. So color him 'gone'; just a matter of time.

What is coming apparent is that Trump and his inner circle have harsh realities to face. They cannot deny issues that have been in the forefront for decades just because they don't like them.

And this week, which was another good one for the President, had to have another (illegal) leak on the Russiagate issue; this time the FISA warrant issued on former (and peripheral) adviser Carter Page.

Just in time, too. Amazing how these leaks just keep coming, and always to either the Post, NY Times, or CNN.

Evelyn Farkas' assertions that this information be spread far and wide so it could be leaked. The Democrats, who have been just devastated by the positive reaction to Trump's actions on Syria were thrown another lifeline.

Rachel Maddow can even go back to her Little Orphan Annie radio broadcasts with their secret decoder rings. The fact that Carter Page is on CNN and FOX aswering questions today makes no difference.

He is the spy the left desperately wants, the hard connection between the hated Trump and Russian intelligence they lust for. So, the see saw affair of governence, lorded over by the deep state who isn't sure Trump will deliver the war they want, continues.

As soon as Trump has a few good days another leak -all of them hollow at the core so far- will happen, illegal as hell and tacitly approved by James Comey at FBI.

It is in the middle of all this palace intrigue that Trump is making real gains.

Could you imagine Jeff Sessions' actions at the border being lost in a mix at any previous juncture? His seizure of America's borders is now a page three story.

You know damn well that Tillerson and Putin worked out a framework for extrication of Russia from the Syria equation. Backchannels have been established, and the setting for a Trump/Putin summit is now on.

The Carter Page affair is just a another 'remember who's really in charge' reminder. It's the Intelligence Community, which is divided between deep state neocons, progressive plants from the previous bunch, and Trump's people starting to take more control.

Just how much longer this dynamic exists is hard to say; at least until summer. Right now he has to take care of business.

And that is exactly what is happening... 

don't mess with powers you can't handle.

Tuesday, 11 April (Evening Wrap):

The above rhetorical question could best be answered this way:

Neither. Althought the drumbeats of war are echoing in the background, all may not be as it seems with the bold moves being done. The Tomahawk attack has now gone down in the annals of history; it is forever to be what it claimed to be.

Which is a warning to all the combatants. Stop this nonsense.

Much like Gort, the robot from the 1951 classic sci-f film 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', this was about denying the weapon from the potential assailant. If you recall the film, when the flying saucer landed in the Mall in Washington it was surrounded by US military.

Tanks, artillery pieces and troops were stationed around the craft. When the alien Klaatu (Michael Rennie) comes out of the craft he displays an object in his hand which clicks open. One of the tankers fires his .45 and wounds Klaatu in the wrist.

Then Gort comes out. 9 feet tall, and armed with a disintegration beam, it methodically destroys every piece of equipment, including the rifles of the infantry. No humans were hurt.

But the point was made, and understood. As Klaatu later intones to an audience of the world, Gort was programmed to react to any display of force, and was to eradicate it. This whole theory goes back to the turn of the century and the wish of the League of Nations to have a an Air Force of the World, which would bomb any miscreant who wouldn't behave like a proper member of the planet.

Point made, Syria may very well be on the road to peace.

Cut to the Korean peninsula. It isn't the US that has been making noise; it's the grandson of Kim Il Sung, the first dictator of Korea. This is the only Stalinist state left, and a weird hybrid of family dynasty and hard line communism.

It is the absolute picture of the failed state. Not a state of chaos, like the Middle East. Just a military autocracy that willingly starves and imprisons it's own people in order to keep a ruthless grip on power.

Most people don't know that the US, and South Korea are in a state of 'cease fire' from 1953. They have still not resolved the differences in over 60 years.

The 38th Parallel, which is the DMZ, is the most heavily armed and mined strip of land in the world. 28,000 US troops are stationed there.

So, every year they have a training exercise together, which in turn causes the North to call it an 'act of war' and start shooting rockets into the South China Sea.

Trump sees this as something that needs a resolution, just like Syria. As dear old dad would say. 'enough of this shit!'.

So, you warn the Chinese premier, and then send the USS Carl Vinson as a show of force. This plays to the paranoia of the communists, who correctly see the forces of history closing in on them. Rumors of a commando operation that would behead the country by taking out Kim and his top generals is flying all over the Community.

It would be THE Op of all time. But it could be done. They have the bizarre command and control of the hard core communist, meaning zero independent thought. The military is incapable of acting on it's own.

But this is all hypothesis. It will never come to this.

Will it?... 

don't fprget our pals in Tehran.

Tuesday, 11 April:

The aftermath of the missile strike on Syria has been pretty thorough.

Literally everything on the agenda, save for health care and tax reform has been affected by the 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched on a Syrian air base. SecState Rex Tillerson is off to Russia to have a 'just in time' meeting with Sergei Lavrov.

North Korea is threatrening death to all. Wait a minute. That's nothing new.

The US is sending a carrier group to Korea. Then again, it is there for a joint US/S Korea military exercise, so it's just a serendipitous coincidence. You have sources in the Pentagon claiming Russia knew about the chemical attack.

Being led by cheerleader/warmonger John McCain, of course. Yet White House sources say not so fast, there is no hard evidence Russia knew anything. Tillerson offered up 'incompetence', which one should NEVER discount.

Meanwhile, Putin has asked the UN to do an investigation. They want them to come to the airbase and search for chemical stores. Now, between you, me and the fencepost whatever was there isn't any longer.

One could go on with this; suffice to say many sabers are beinng rattled.

The unhinged progressive Democrats, robbed of their Trump/Putin narrative, are now going to some really bizarre conspiracies in order to keep their 'religion' alive. So invested are they in this notion that Putin delivered the presidency to the infidel Trump that they will literally believe anything that fits that story.

So, hold on to your hat for this one.

Putin and Trump cooked up the missile attack, the world is being led to the edge of war with ancillary conflicts like Korea in play, just to make Trump look good.

According to polls, it ain't working. Trump's approval ratings are up a tick, he's holding at about 44% according to Rasmussen. The public is generally OK with the strike but not in love with it.

This is the perfect example of why progressive thought is a secular religion.

Their agenda has been not only sidelined, but derailed by Trump. Since politics are their desired religion, every aspect an article of faith, they simply CANNOT be wrong.

Ever.

So, this leaves them in a quandry. No matter what James Comey and the FBI release -and they better brace themselves, because the WORST case scenario is some seed money going to some peripheral Trump advisers, long since gone.

Seedy politics perhaps. But treachery? The reason Clinton lost the election? The real reasons, a bad candidate, arrogant and clueless staff, and a Trump team that outhustled them will never be accepted.

They will craft a story, and for all intents and purposes it will BECOME their 'fact', irrespective of the truth, something they find subjective anyway.

If you're wondering why Adam Schiff and his deer in the headights persona is quiet nowadays it's because he knows there's nothing there other than illegal activites of the previous administration.

This does not make for a good period going forward; there will be little cooperation at all. Unless, that is, Trump throws them a lifeline. They have to feel vindicated somehow, no matter how wrong they are.

Until then, the adults in the room have a LOT of work to do...

off to Russia to see this fellow.

Monday, 10 April (Early Edition):

There are some out there who still assert that Donald J Trump hasn't accomplished much in his first 80 days. This has been a MediaBloc talking point for awhile; it's obviously not true but that hasn't stopped them from decrying, along with the opposition, his 'failure to perform'.

One suspects that after the last 5 days that slogan will tossed overboard.

Following his stunning success with the Syria adventure, meeting with Premier Xi of China, and sending the USS Carl Vinson task force to sit off the coast of Korea, the President swore in his new Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch just moments ago.

This caps an extraordinary week in a young administration. As heralded as the Previous Occupant was, what with his Nobel Peace prize and all, he never had a week with such notable and far reaching incidents.

They were a notoriously risk adverse bunch; internal politics and installing an agenda was their singular focus. Events such as what have just happened were considered unwanted distractions.

That is except for the crowining achievement of naming and swearing in a Supreme Court justice. This was not lost on the previous crowd, having named two justices previously. The death of conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia gave them the chance to reshape the court just in time for certain big issues that could have codified their progressive vision for the country.

Gun control. Freedom of religion. Who controls the borders and what justifies immigration.

Big issues, indeed. They tried to get cute and name a so-called 'moderate', Merrick Garland. While he is a tad more conservative than the two previous judges they nominated, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, there is little doubt he would have voted with the liberal/left bloc there.

Or else he wouldn't have been nominated. That's how the progressives roll. They want guaranteed outcomes, that's why they decry the 'lost seat' for Garland. They seem to have no doubt how he would vote.

For Republicans that is an entirely different process. They always name justices who don't back up their politics; George Bush 41 chose David Souter, who turned out to be a reliable liberal, and Clarence Thomas, who wasn't.

Neil Gorsuch is no enigma. But he isn't a conservative activist, either. He will be no rubber stamp. That said, as an originalist he will stay within the intent of the original document. For progressives, who see it as a 'living document' subject to contemporary interpretation, this is not a view they want.

That doesn't necessarily mean he'll vote against them. He is no lock to overturn Roe v. Wade. It's bad law, but it has been the law of the land and he gives great deference to it.

Gun ownership? That might not break the way they want. But their problem is the 2nd amendment, and if they loathe it so much start a constitutional convention to overturn it.

That's how it works; NOT creative interpretations. So, if their knickers are in a knot over this, too bad. The Constitution is a series of rules we all swear into. An agreement on how to live,a nd how to rule. 

It should be very hard to change. To our progressive friends, well get what you want through the legislative process and stop trying to rule from the bench. It will be far more fruitful in the long run.

Especially with Trump having one or two more possible Supreme court picks and 1,000 judges at the federal level. This is the big game changer, and it will have lasting effects...

rockets red glare. Notice the Flag amidships as battle standard. Classic.

Saturday, 8 April (Weekend Edition):

Another week of consequence for the Trump administration in the books.

And the biggest news isn't so much the missile attack on Syria. It's the fact that it blows the false narrative of Russian collusion off the radar. Many of those who visit this site may not follow the sites that are resolutely anti-Trump.

It's not much fun, so the editors here do it for you. They are an angry lot, and not responsive to any type of logic. Fed a nonsense narrative that catered to the more insane amongst them, they were 100% invested in a Trump indictment.

Many thought he'd be gone by the 100 day mark, which was the goal of the so-called 'resist' crowd. But the neocons got their wish, which is Russia on the run with warhawk McCain in full pursuit.

And guess what?  Somebody just got tossed overboard.

Now, the brilliant and informed readers who come to this site are not very surprised by this turn of events. It was going to take a lot more than a bad John LeCarre thriller told sideways to indict, and remove, a sitting president.

They, too, saw the neocon Deep State squeeze. They got their payback, and are happy. For now. They want more; one has already seen the 'Russia knew and was complicit' meme they want to pursue now.

And if you listen to the MediaBloc you will also hear that the praise for Trump's actions are predicated on him doing a LOT more.

However, Trump may very well be playing both sides against the middle. This attack may be just the break he needed to get talks on track, and Rex Tillerson's trip to Russia this week will be substantive, of that you can be certain.

Oh, and Steve Bannon is STILL there, right in the middle of things. Take all the rumors of him and Jared Kushner at odds with each other with a very large grain of salt. The differences between them were just resolved; Reince Priebus had a meeting with both of them and at the end of the day they need each other.

Just growing pains in a new administration. Only 75 days old, remember... 

Rand Paul isn't happy, either.

Friday, 7 April (Evening Wrap):

This aticle will go right to the heart of the Trump movement people.

There is more than a few of them who are quite unhappy with the 45th President because they feel, with some justification, that he did the bidding of the neocons. The Tomahawk strike was a favor to the Deep State.

They are right, to a degree.

Let's take a step back and assess the situation. For 70 odd days, the establishment has had the maverick president caught in a vise. They allowed the previous lot to entertain the elaborate, but obviously disprovable Russiagate fantasy.

This kept the pressure on Trump from the left, while neocon choir boy John McCain made sure that the GOP was keeping a close eye on this whole Russia business, too.

Follow so far? Good.

Then this incident occurs. Now, whether it is what the DoD says it was or whether it was as Russia claims, which is they bombed a rebel gas factory is almost irrelevant. What IS important is that the message was STOP IT.

When you have the 'no child of God' speech laid over the visual of dying infants and your action is to do a scientific attack on the base that was responsible for said attack, with few casualties you have what is called a 'home run ball'.

Trump took a bad choice and made it work, and work spectacularly. The MediaBloc immediately went into honor thy Commander In Chief mode, Rachel Maddow's Little Orphan Annie spy tales now in the rubbish heap of history, and then Trump can go back to Premier Xi and say, BTW I just bombed Syria, your wife looks hot and how's the flounder?

Very tidy, folks. Somebody has done big rollouts before.

So, what  all our friends who voted for the man who was going to drain the swamp are wondering is this: What's next?

If he allows the Deep State to push him in the regime change/blame the Russians element, and they are being heard loud and clear, you'll know they have control over him.

If, on the other hand, he leapfrogs into a conference with Russia, who has been very mild in it's response, and this becomes a regional peace conference like Rex Tillerson has said, this could be a silver lining and an escape clause for Russia.

They can rid themselves of Assad, a pain in their rears, and keep what they want which is the port at Tartus. This incident does take the cozying up to Russia meme and rip it to shreds. So it does help Trump consolidate power, which he just did.

He is The President of the United States. There is no longer any doubt about it. He had to do this. To Paul Joseph Watson, Ann Coulter, Milo Yiannapolis and other Trump supporters who are not pleased, take this analysis to heart.

You'll know soon enough if McCain and his people get their way. He just spelled out what he wants on FOX. None of it is what Trump wants.

Watson postulated that it might even be '4D chess'. They have been outplaying their foes for some time. More likely is this is turning the tables on those who see predetermined outcomes by someone who thinks on his feet, every second of the day...

Tomahawk damage.

Friday, 7 April (Early Edition):

No doubt a lot of people work up this morning all over planet earth and asked this question:

'What the hell just happened?'

The details of the raid are now part of history; a precision missile strike by the United States on a bad actor in the Middle East, which just isn't all that unusual or new. In other words, it's not the action as much as the reasons why and more important, what's next.

The reasons are obvious. If indeed there was a government sponsored attack using banned chemical munitions by the Assad government then this was a very appropriate response measured and well executed.

Many on the alt right are uneasy about all this. The previous gas attack in 2013 was a poorly staged false flag attempt. It was blatant enough to give the last president pause; in spite of his 'red line' statement it wasn't convincing enough to attack them on.

He paid for it with a lasting rebuke to his reputation. This site is no fan of the Previous Occupant, but it was one of the more unfair charges levied against him. The rebel forces know very well that any presence of chemicals aids their cause greatly.

That's why there needs to be proper inquiries and forensic research.

However, this incident seems -and that is the key word, because you have to accept the US military's word on this, to be a very serious error by the Syrians and some major slop in oversight by their Russian guides.

That is eminently possible. Keep in mind these people have been gassing each other since the 70's, mostly Iraq doing it to Iran. Saddam's Iraq was a Baathist government. So, too is Assad's.

That's one key. They are a cold blooded, and calculated lot. The Syrians are higher on the feeding chain than the desert clans of Saddam Hussein. Although nominally credited as a society formed in the 9th century, Syria has an entymology going back to at least 10,000 BC.

The Garden of Eden is reputed to be at the banks of the Tigres and the Euphrates. So, there is a LOT of history here.

For President Trump, he was backed into a corner where some sort of action was required. He and his advisers took a bad situation and turned it into a very stunning success. The Russian reaction is so mild, that it seems the opportunity to get in talks with them is now a huge break for both countries.

This is the biggest issue going forward. The current political scenario had Trump isolated from any overtures to Russia because of the 'Russiagate' narrative. That was just put to bed, much to the chagrin of the progressives out there, who are taking this event VERY badly.

That's their problem. They bought into an elaborate fiction; too bad, so sad.

For now, Trump cemented his presidency, showed the word 'civility' still exists, and that certain things will not be tolerated by a modern world. It's awfully hard to argue that.

A very big win for him. How he handles it going forward will be interesting, indeed... 

the President addresses the country.

Thursday, 6 April (Breaking News):

In a stunning turn of events, the US has launched 60 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the airbase at Ash Shari'at in Hom, western Syria.

The missiles were fired by two US destroyers , the USS Porter and USS Ross. 

The Russian government was warned by the 'hot line' direct link to the Kremlin. This is important because the US isn't just attacking Bashar al Assad and Syria, but his Russian sponsors as well.

There is little doubt, too that the Russians were able to evacuate their crews and warn Iranian forces in the area. No matter what anyone thinks- and if you listen to the bleating morons in congress calling outing John Podesta an 'act of war' you just might think we're crazy- there is NO desire to kill forces from either of these countries.

The initial reaction of the Russians is suprisingly tepid:

"We have to think about negative consequences, negative consequences, and all the responsibility if military action occurred will be on shoulders of those who initiated such doubtful and tragic enterprise," Safronkov told reporters when asked about possible U.S. strikes.

When asked what those negative consequences could be, he said: "Look at Iraq, look at Libya."

Your third grade teacher told your parents worse when you put gummi bears in the hair of the girl who sat in front of you.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has already spoken to the Russian ambassador, and will go to Russia next week. There is actually a possible silver lining to this.

First of all, Assad is a client of Russia, who has a port in Tartus. That said, they aren't all that fond of him, and his actions of late hasn't made things any better in Moscow. They do NOT want war with the US.

John McCain, is his off the cuff insane manner, said 'he doesn't give a damn' what Russia thinks. He has keys to an underground bunker that none of us have access to.

But Russia could very well be on the bargaining end of a new order in Syria; all they care about is keeping their port, and that has never been questioned. In a grand bargain, Russia could withdraw it's forces from Syria and the Ukraine in return for long term leases to Tartus and Sevastapol.

They would be very good with that, and that framework exists already according to sources.

Trump, who is under incredible pressure from his political opponents; the people who lost the election refuse to cede power, and the neocon Deep State wanted their war. Indeed, they have been navigating the President towards this.

It does go against everything Trump ran on.

However, anytime you shake up the Magic 8 ball you never know exactly where the future lie.

The fact that Trump wants peace, not war will go a LONG way with both Xi of China, and also Putin. They may very well see this as the politcal dilemma he was put into by domestic forces.

This could be a pressure valve release. That cannot be discounted. How Syria is divvied up is to be determined, but to the warmongering McCain one can assure 'his' rebel forces won't be among them.

This will go to the UN where it can die the bureucratic death of 10,000 cuts. They'll still be negotiating this two years from now. In the short term, watch Russia offer asylum to Assad and his family, and some sort of government will be patched together from his Alawite tribe.

President Trump spoke to the country at 21:00 hours CDT. The text:

My fellow Americans, on Tuesday, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians using a deadly nerve agent Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children.

It was a slow and brutal death for so many even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.

Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in Syria from where the chemical attack was launched.

Trump Syria attack raises questions about his authorization

It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.

There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council.

Years of previous attempts at changing Assad's behavior have all failed and failed very dramatically.

As a result the refugee crisis continues to deepen and the region continues to destabilize, threatening the United States and its allies.

U.S. responds to chemical attack by firing missiles at Syria

Tonight I call on all civilized nations to join us in seeking to end the slaughter and bloodshed in Syria and also to end terrorism of all kinds and all types.

We ask for God's wisdom as we face the challenge of our very troubled world. We pray for the lives of the wounded and the souls of those who have passed and we hope that as long as America stands for justice then peace and harmony will prevail.

Good night and God bless America and the entire world. Thank you.

There will be a lot more on this; stay tuned...