Syria is now fully entitled under international law to attack the U.S.

[KingCharlemagne]

and its possessions anywhere and anyway it can. Trump was required to go to the U.N. Security Council and did not do so. Syria is now under no obligation to seek U.N. Security Council permission since current international law allows nation states to engage in military action to defend against actual or imminent attacks.

Whether Syria is capable of attacking the U.S. or its assets is another question entirely, but it would be fully within its rights to do so from this point forward. That's what flagrantly violating international law produces.

[monmouth4]

1. We were just discussing this. I'm in West Palm Beach, about 5 miles away from MAL. If I was going t

retaliate I would definitely hit MAL. We're in the range of collateral damage and a bridge right down the street.

[Solly Mack]

2. Not wishing bad on anyone but I'd imagine MAL is a target.

[KingCharlemagne]

3. Well, I think there's a big gulf between a 'right to do something' and

'having the ability to do something.' But Americans would be foolish indeed if they think that Syrians are any less patriotic about their country than the average American is about his or hers.

[cloudbase]

4. What requires Trump to go to the U.N.?

Serious question.

[KingCharlemagne]

5. International law and the U.N. Charter, to which the U.S. are

signatories.

Preventative war (the thing Trump engaged in, I suppose, in firing the missiles) is strictly forbidden under the U.N. Charter without a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing it.

Preemptive war (a war to respond to or defend against an actual or imminent attack) is allowed under the U.N. Charter without a Security Council resolution. Syria can now claim it is under threat of an imminent or actual attack and need not go the Security Council.

Trump engaged in a flagrant act of naked military aggression and we should thank our lucky starts that Syria does not have an ICBM capability.

[PJMcK]

7. If Syria had ICBM's...

...even without nuclear warheads, Trump would never have attacked that airport. The man's a coward.

Donald Trump is also an idiot.

[KingCharlemagne]

8. That's a good point and may offer North Korea some

solace (although it does not yet have truly ICBM capability, I think).

[still_one]

6. The fact that we are a leading member of that organization requires it. However, a more

pressing question is why didn't this go before Congress.

[malaise]

9. He violated the US Constitution and International Law

Fuck the Con