Klamath Falls, OR— Sen. John McCain said President Trump’s comments suggesting he wants to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria “emboldened” President Bashar al Assad’s regime to commit the recent chemical attack that killed at least 40 people in the war-torn country.
“President Trump last week signaled to the world that the United States would prematurely withdraw from Syria,” the Republican senator from Arizona said in a statement Sunday.
A U.S. lawmaker urged President Donald Trump Sunday to stop blaming Barack Obama for failed policies and instead take responsibility as the leader of the White House. Democratic Representative Ted Lieu of California tweeted a message for Trump after the president blamed former President Obama for a chemical attack in Syria.
"Dear @realDonaldTrump: Remember when you launched cruise missiles at a largely empty field in Syria? That unconstitutional act didn't do very much," Lieu tweeted. "Remember when you said last week that US is leaving Syria in six months? So what is your plan? You're the President now. Remember?"
President Donald Trump blamed former President Barack Obama after a reported chemical attack in Syria Sunday.
“If President Obama had crossed his stated Red Line In The Sand, the Syrian disaster would have ended long ago! Animal Assad would have been history!” Trump tweeted.
Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump
If President Obama had crossed his stated Red Line In The Sand, the Syrian disaster would have ended long ago! Animal Assad would have been history! 6:12 AM - 8 Apr 2018
It’s worth noting that in 2013, Trump called on Obama to not attack Syria, warning “there is no upside and tremendous downside.”
Trump also made the rare move of calling out Russian President Vladimir Putin and issued a vague threat.
“Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria,” he wrote. “Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay.”
“Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!”
Trump has blamed his predecessor for not following through on his threat that Assad’s chemical weapons use was a red line that would not be tolerated, something that Trump suggested he would not repeat.
Assad has never been a priority for Trump. Though he called him a “bad guy,” he repeatedly said on the campaign trail and in the White House that Assad is not a U.S. priority. He was willing to be involved in Syria as long as the fight against the Islamic State was going on, but not much more. His announcement that the U.S. military role in Syria was “coming to a rapid end” was a continuation of that belief.
A year ago, Trump also had to do an about-face on Syria. Last week was the first anniversary of a sarin attack that killed more than 80 Syrians in the town of Khan Sheikhoun. That occurred shortly after the administration said that it did not believe removing Assad from power was a priority. The Syrian government was deemed responsible in a joint inquiry by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The use of sarin at Khan Sheikhoun angered Trump and led him to reassess his attitude toward Syria and Assad.
“It crossed a lot of lines for me,” he said. “When you kill innocent children, innocent babies, little babies, with a chemical gas that was so lethal,” then it “crosses many lines, beyond a red line, many, many lines.”
Three days after the attack, Trump ordered a missile strike on the Syrian airfield that had been used by planes that dropped the sarin.
White House homeland security adviser Thomas Bossert said that when he heard of this weekend’s attack, his first thought was the timing, coming one year after “the last time they made the mistake of using these weapons and pushing the rest of the world. This isn’t just the United States. This is one of those issues on which every nation, all peoples, have all agreed and have agreed since World War II this is an unacceptable practice.”
Sentiments of outrage over the most recent incident reverberated around the world.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called the attack an example of the Assad government’s brutality. The European Union issued a statement appealing to Assad’s allies Russia and Iran to “use their influence to prevent any further attack and ensure the cessation of hostilities and de-escalation of violence.” Turkey, which has been cooperating with Assad allies in talks for a political solution, called for international action to prevent what it called war crimes and crimes against humanity.
By James Garland of Tulelake News
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