As Donald Trump continues his descent into paranoid rage, and as one senior official of his administration says that he/she and others are helping to protect the nation from him, I do want to single out one area in which I’m somewhat in sympathy with the President, as revealed in Bob Woodward’s upcoming book.
Donald Trump ordered his defence secretary to assassinate Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad and “kill the f****** lot of them” in the leader’s regime, in the wake of a chemical attack against civilians, according to a new book.
Defence secretary James Mattis is said to have told the president during a phone call he would “get right on it” before hanging up the phone and instead telling an aide: “We’re not going to do any of that. We’re going to be much more measured.” In the wake of the chemical attack in April 2017, the president’s national security team developed options that included the more conventional airstrike that Mr Trump eventually ordered.
(Unfortunately Trump is denying he ever said it.)
Although Trump’s reported order wasn’t well thought out, and the consequences of such an act would have been highly unpredictable, I can identify with the anger behind it.
However a military strike on Assad would have possibly killed Assad fanboy and far-right Republican State Senator Dick Black of Virginia, who seems to spend quite a lot of time in Damascus rather than representing the interests of his constituents in Loudoun and Prince William counties.
Update: That’s what friends are for.
Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims “unwavering faith in President Trump.” Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2018
