***OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM PENTAGON***: "RUSSIA WAS NOTIFIED OF STRIKE BEFOREHAND !!"

[uponit7771]

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1144598/statement-from-pentagon-spokesman-capt-jeff-davis-on-us-strike-in-syria

Russian forces were notified in advance of the strike using the established deconfliction line. U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel located at the airfield.

Soooooooo jus to recap

Americans - didn't know of strike
Congress - didn't know of strike
Allies - didn't know of strike

Russia - was "notified" to minimize Risk to Russia and Syrian personnel

Because Benedict Donald loves America?

Love Hate, support the KKKonservative cult

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. Just when I think Trump might do something unpredictable, he does something predictable.

Never trust this scumbag. Never.

[uponit7771]

6. Yeap, predictably pro Russian

[lunatica]

61. Well is easy peazy to predict that he'll do something unpredictable.

[redwitch]

2. But Donald says we shouldn't give advance warning. Right?

[lapfog_1]

5. to our enemies

so... follow the logic here.

what does that mean regarding Russia and by extension Assad and the Iranians (who apparently had troops at the airbase).

[uponit7771]

7. +1

[BumRushDaShow]

3. And by "alliance" with Russia

the Syria military knew it was coming and got out of the way.

Joe Madison remarked as to whether Iran knew since they are in there too (but I expect they did since they support Russia and Syria).

[lapfog_1]

8. of course they did.

phone call from Pentagon to Russia.

Russia warns Assad. Assad tells his good friend Iran to get out.

[uponit7771]

9. +1, "U.S. military planners took precautions to minimize risk to Russian or Syrian personnel"

[Littlered9560]

4. Traitors one and all.

[Cryptoad]

22. who?

[Littlered9560]

83. The trump administration.

Sorry about the delay, I don't log on very often.

[onecent]

10. Doesn't anyone have the authority to OUST Trump. This week has made me a paranoid mess.

[Maraya1969]

36. Me too. And I don't know the answer but I hope someone does.

If we survive this madman we have to become over diligent with out elections, making sure nothing like this ever happens again.

[onecent]

51. Yes that is exactly RIGHT!!!! Someone had to see this coming that could have stopped it

before now.

[maddiemom]

67. I always thought that was what the electoral college was supposed to be for...

[Botany]

11. Now who backs Assad in Syria?

That would be Russia.

Who helped to rig our elections in order to install Trump and Republicans?

That would be Russia.

And who shifted the goal of ousting Assad as the leader of Syria?

That would be Trump.

[chelsea0011]

12. You know, they would never treat guns like war planes....

"Guns don't kill people. People kill people" is the refrain from NRA ad nauseam. But when it comes time to punish people for dropping sarin gas and killing "little babies", instead they warn the murderous people so only the war planes and infrastructure are damaged. I guess just getting rid of guns will work.

[uponit7771]

13. RT is showing vids of the airbase; Planes intact, only empty bunkers hit and runway is intact. This

... was a straight up shit show of wasting money

[chelsea0011]

19. Really? Oh, this is sounding more fishy every second that goes by.

Ex General McCaffrey was on MSNBC last night and was saying Tomahawk Missiles are a poor choice to use on an airfield as the bomb crater is really small.

[uponit7771]

21. +1, yeap... RT showed the main runway wasn't even hit !!

[exboyfil]

23. Good point

How effective are the cluster munitions and did they use that version? If they didn't destroy planes and kill pilots - then I don't see the point.

[exboyfil]

20. I knew it

Do we have any freaking military analysts that can go on the air and point this out? It was a $100M failure. You have to kill the pilots and command and control staff and destroy the planes for it to be a successful attack.

[uponit7771]

23. +1, I was posting this to a Trumpete a second ago that if they left the air defenses in place then

... this was dog and pony.

It is, they didn't even care to blow up the main runway

[exboyfil]

25. So our OMB director is so keen on program effectiveness

So what did we get for our $100M?

Someone needs to ask Trump, Mattis, and McMaster that question. What should you expect for $100M of munitions?

[LiberalArkie]

66. What did we get out of it? The taxpayers got to buy $100 million (or More)

worth of Cruze missiles. That is the point of all of this since 1950 isn't it?

[world wide wally]

28. So, what was the point again?

[7962]

63. Do you think they would actually show massive destruction??

Do we even know this was the base attacked?
Do you remember the "proof" the russians aired showing that Ukraine shot down that airliner?
Come on, folks.

[Initech]

14. Wait - so we just bombed an empty airfield?

I hate these fucking assholes.

[uponit7771]

16. RT is showing vids of the airbase; Planes intact, only empty bunkers hit and runway is intact.

[MelissaB]

18. Surprise! Surprise!

Not.

[Shoonra]

72. What are the chances that Trump hoaxed us?

Amazing! Supposedly 60 Tomahawk missiles are launched, yet zero planes destroyed and no damage to the runways, and the airfield is back in operation in less than 24 hours!

What are the chances that Trump lied to us, that he launched fireworks or duds or something harmless, and is lying about having bombed his fellow Putin-client Assad? After all, Assad is backed by Putin, and crossing Putin could mean that Trump might not get re-elected.

[GusBob]

15. Donny and Puty sittin' in a tree,, k-i-ss-i-n-g

such a love affair

[uponit7771]

17. +1, press briefings might as well be held at the Kremlin

[exboyfil]

26. Here is the American Conservative

article on this intervention. Note the comments section.

The way to approach this is that the attack was for show and not effective. A $100M wasted.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/this-isnt-the-foreign-policy-trump-campaigned-on/

[uponit7771]

27. +1

[EricMaundry]

29. Trump bombed an empty base

[old guy]

30. Well, empty suit, empty base.

Kinda fits somehow.

[Javaman]

31. so to recap, lots of "rockets red glare" with the added bonus of civilian deaths. nt

[7962]

64. You really think children were at a military airfield, in the middle of the night?

[Javaman]

70. Where did I say children?

I said civilians

[7962]

71. Sorry, the Syrians said it. When you referred to civilians I figured you'd seen their report.

They said 4 children were killed

[HoneyBadger]

77. The base was not empty if children were murdered

[7962]

80. Come on, who believes that kids were at an airfield in the middle of the nite?

Feel free to follow the SYRIAN line if you like. Believe me, if they really were there, they'd be showing the bodies being pulled from the rubble. Its BS.

[yuiyoshida]

32. So does that mean Trump will pay for those WASTED missles?

I thought not, tax payers will foot the bill on this little operation. Its too bad the Pentagon doesn't charge the President for the light show. He must think this country has money for him to burn.

[sarcasmo]

33. We're under Putin control. A takeover without firing a bullet.

[Bleacher Creature]

34. So what's the big story here???

I'm my job, I always have to check with my boss before taking a significant action. I guess it's no different in DC.

[jmowreader]

57. I'm certain Trump did check with his bosses

Alex Jones, Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner all said spending $150 million to destroy bunkers the Syrians weren't using was just fine with them.

[Canoe52]

35. Of course he did!

The biggest loser fucks up again. This guy only knows how to run things into the ground.

[lark]

37. Aha, so the story I read earlier was true!

They did tell Russia who told Assad who moved out personnel and planes, rendering the strike virtually useless. What a great team orange assface has! Stabbing America in the bank for the benfit of Russia, so sick!

[WinkyDink]

38. In fairness, there were no Americans, Congresspeople, or Allies within range or who might retaliate.

[NoMoreRepugs]

39. Were our Allies alerted prior to the attack? Just now 1143AM on

CNBC a GWB flunkee was saying 'all our allies were notified " and how 'impressed' he was by the Orange Buffoon.

[workinclasszero]

40. Trump had to inform his boss Vladimir Putin first

of course.

Nice little kabuki theater to distract the press and public from his massively failing presidency.

Next show: North Korea, this time with nukes!

Link to tweet

[uponit7771]

42. Yeap

[They_Live]

41. Great! How much did this bombing cost?

I'm finding prices of about 1.41 million PER MISSILE. But we must cut Education, Healthcare, Amtrak, PBS, NEA, EPA, State Department, Give tax cuts to the most wealthy, and pump more poison into the environment.

Fuck these guys.

[workinclasszero]

43. Millions and millions and millions

Well fuck it America, we will just kill meals on wheels, ACA, the EPA, medicare and social security so we can play global cop worldwide! MAGA baby!

[herding cats]

44. This confirms that Russia was based at the same airfield as the chemical weapons.

It also confirms (to me) the attack was for show. We warned them and gave them time to bug out - with the weapons.

Wasted resources and time all for some wag the dog Trump stunt.

[zentrum]

45. However...

If he had blown up Russian planes and soldiers we could find ourselves in the middle of a war with Russia.

WW3.

So this is very complicated.

He should have consulted Congress of course. This is what it means to have Mad Dog McMasters (of the universe) at the top---no?

Yes, it's all phony as hell and cynical but it's better that we didn't kill Russians.

We and the Syrians are fucked either way but let's not go to war with a super-power.

[uponit7771]

48. Or he can stop talkin shit and go about it smartly instead of showing "force" like an idiot.

[TNLib]

55. I agree

and if this truly is a shot across Syria's bow, then maybe they'll stop and think before using chemical weapons.

[JenniferJuniper]

46. I think most of us knew that intuitively...

[uponit7771]

47. +1, which is a shame that the US president can't put America first

[mwooldri]

49. this is going to be unpopular here, but Trump had to do this.

Trump could not ignore the chemical attack in Syria.

Trump could not do nothing.

Lobbing a few missiles at Syrian military bases was to be expected. Some allies were informed beforehand (Australia was).

Notifying Russia beforehand given the nature of the conflict in Syria was also necessary. The problem is with Assad, not Putin.

I think that Russia is going to get with Assad via the back channels, Assad is going to pout for a while, and Russia is going to come out smelling like the peace maker. Trump will be put back in the corner.

[uponit7771]

50. Benedict Donald had to do something, this might not have been it. This is peacock wasting of time

... and money and colluding with Russia by warning them before hand.

and the problem is Putin, he's a white supremacist fuck him

[LeftInTX]

56. I agree

I don't understand Assad.
He's a physician for God's sake
But he is basically another Saddam

[7962]

65. I agree with you. And russias best move is to remove assad & replace with a different puppet

IF Assad continues to use chemicals
The reality is that the US could destroy most of Assads real military capability in a few weeks. If Assad doesnt believe that, I'm sure the russians have told him

[Martin Eden]

78. The cruise missile strike was purely political

It did no real damage to Assad or his ability to use that airfield, which is up and running again.

A shooting war with Russia is certainly to be avoided, but the only one benefitting from this act is Donald Trump. Civilians in Syria will continue to be slaughtered by conventional munitions and they won't find sanctuary in the United States because that transforms them from innocent victims to dangerous terrorists.

[Loki Liesmith]

52. This is not abnormal

We have a deconfliction channel with Russia. We used it.

Of course, they just shut down the channel, so...

[uponit7771]

53. I'm thinking at the least congress should have been told before Russia. But I'm not surprised that

... Russia is informed here given who's leading the country, he has their best interest at heart and not Americas

[NCjack]

54. Did the Russians warn the Syrian civilians that gas

bombs were coming to their dwellings?

[pbmus]

58. The American taxpayer paid 100 million dollars to

Destroy one runway and a few buildings that Russia and Syria said was ok to destroy...? So the big con could look tough...

[uponit7771]

59. +1, and it wasn't the main part of the runway either it has a bunch of rubble on it that can be ...

... cleared and ready to go in weeks

[stuffmatters]

60. The MSM had better not let Trump get away with this "Bomb Shit Show."

I was reminded last night why I cannot stand to watch Brian Williams after years of his nightlly Iraq journalistic malpractice.

Trump was really at a bottom by Wed night/ Thurs morning: SCOTUS was going to have to go nuclear to get Gorsuch, the Koch's Walking ALEC Bill Mill, through, Bannon making very threatening retaliatory noises after being humiliated and weakened, his son in law concealed Russia collaboration made public, Nunes taken of the House Treason Investigation (optics bkz of Trump collusion) Trump's poll numbers earlier in the week already in the crapper, ...the evening news Thurs promised nothing but reports of Trump incompetence, more examples of his family colluding with Russians, and lead in with Trump/Repub destruction of the fillibuster for Gorsuch.etc.

So Donnie decides to take charge of the news, oozing purple prose about dead Syrian babies (he's heartlessly and categorically banned); the Pentagon will even provide the Bomb Porn "Awe" to feed his Macho Base.. After all, discharging America's "military might" has proven such a reliable tactic for Repub Presidents to both divert and disguise their failures in the past, it's a no brainer. Just notify you good friend Putin ahead of time, pretend it's Trump confronting both Assad and Putin. preempt probable Russian connex
material imminent from the spurned, humiliated Bannon.

BTW I think psyco Bannon becoming a loose "cannon" re:Russia in the last 48 hours scares Trump most.

[7962]

62. Not really a surprise. We didnt want to hit actual Russians. Its been done before

Israel also does similar things; warning people they are about to level an area

[Watalapan]

68. Empty Base

Nah I think Russians told Assad's army already to move the weapons to safer locations Marlago on Damascus

[TexasBushwhacker]

69. "Notified" "Asked permission"

Can you imagine if Obama did that?

[Carter Johnson girl]

73. No surprise

No surprise here...

And I bet the Repubs will STILL blame Obama for this crap!

[King_Klonopin]

74. Of course they are, as one would expect.

It is impressive to watch them talk out of both sides of their mouths.

Equally impressive is their talent for rewriting history.

[King_Klonopin]

75. I'm glad it is all staged. A Trump - Putin production of military industrial theater.

I'm too tired to live through WW III right now.

This all happened about 10 hours after Nunes announced he was "stepping aside"
from the House Intel. Committee on Russian cyber attacks and election tampering.

Such a coincidence. I wonder why they waited so long ?

Syria is an un-fixable mess, according to our level of expectations and definition of fixed.
Iraq is an un-fixable mess, according to our level of expectations and definition of fixed.
Israel/Palestine is an un-fixable mess, according to our level of expectations and definition of fixed.
Iran is an un-fixable mess, according to our level of expectations and definition of fixed.
Afghanistan is an un-fixable mess, according to our level of expectations and definition of fixed.

That whole region is damned to perdition until the final destruction of "Armageddon" --
NO AMERICAN PRESIDENT CAN EVER FIX IT. It has been too crazy for too long. Any POTUS who claims
to have a solution to stabilize the Middle East is either full of shit or completely delusional.

BTW: Where are the Saudis and Turks ? What have they done to help to stop this annihilation ?

[HoneyBadger]

76. We murdered 4 children

We meaning the President and the military. Murdered children to send a message not to murder children. That is horrible and the only thing that matters. Those poor families. We should pay reparations.

[bora13]

79. any way

the wind blows, is the way his hair goes...

[spanone]

81. just another reality show to trump

[Achilleaze]

82. republican Tax-&-Draft Dodger-in-Chief proves once again

you cannot trust a damn thing he says. He's a habitual liar. And the republicans who go on Assuming the Position for him are knowingly supporting a known liar, meanwhile failing to lift a finger to defend America against the ACTS of WAR* being perpetrated against us by Russia.

republicans are VIOLATORS and - verily I sayeth unto thee - they shall be according to their own "claimed" Goody Book, Judged.

* per Dick Cheney