Trump Secretary Of State Admits Syria Missile Strike Was A Bogus Charade

[NastyRiffraff]

And he again put the burden of dealing with Assad on the "Syrian people." Read it and weep:

During an interview on ABC's This Week, Trump Sec. of State Rex Tillerson admitted that the US missile strike on Syria wasn't intended to damage Assad because the Trump administration is actually working with Assad to defeat ISIS, so the US missile strike was an empty charade.

Transcript:
STEPHANOPOULOS: On Thursday night, President Trump called on all civilized nations to end the slaughter in Syria and you said the United States has begun to organize a coalition to remove Assad, so in the wake of Thursday’s strike, can you explain the United States’ strategy to remove Assad?

TILLERSON: Well, George, I think our strategy in Syria, as you know, our priority is first the defeat of ISIS, remove them from access to the Khalifade (phonetic) because that’s where the threat to the homeland and to so many other homelands of our coalition partners is emanating from. Once we can eliminate the battle against ISIS, conclude that and it is going quite well, then we hope to turn our attention to cease fire agreements between the regime and opposition forces. In that regard, we are hopeful that we can work with Russia and use their influence to achieve areas of stabilization throughout Syria and create the conditions for a political process through Geneva in which we can engage all of the parties on the way forward and it is through that political process that we believe the Syrian people will awfully (sic) be able to decide the fate of Bashar al-Assad.
(emphasis mine)
Via PolitucusUSA

It might as well have been Putin's interview.

[DetlefK]

1. So, Trump bombed a foreign country without congressional approval for shits and giggles?

[NastyRiffraff]

4. Pretty much, it looks like

I thought no attack on a foreign country could be more egregious than Iraq. Now this.

[Kentonio]

2. Wow..

Speechless..

[smirkymonkey]

3. So $59 Million down the drain.

We can't afford to fund any social programs, but we can afford idiotic little stunts like this whenever Cheeto needs an ego boost and a distraction from his train wreck of a presidency.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

10. $100 million

Cruise missiles cost $1.4 million each. Of course, these were the "best and finest cruise missiles in the world. You won't find any better cruise missiles in any other country."

[aggiesal]

13. And Cheetolini owns stock in Ratheon ...

so now they can restock the cruise missile stockpile.

Checkout Ratheon's stock price on Friday.

http://markets.money.cnn.com/services/api/chart/snapshot_chart_api.asp?symb=RTN

[workinclasszero]

5. Naw BLOTUS 45 did it because he owns stock in the company that manufactures the tomahawk missiles

And their stock blew through the roof after the attack.

Donald Trump personally profited from missile-maker Raytheon’s stock jump after his Syria attack
Tom Boggioni 08 Apr 2017 at 09:48 ET

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/04/donald-trump-personally-profited-from-missile-maker-raytheons-stock-jump-after-his-syria-attack/

[NastyRiffraff]

6. Yep.

Further proof, as if we needed it, that Dump is in this for personal profit. Next he'll be hawking his steaks again. (I hear Kim Jong-Un loves steak.)

[workinclasszero]

7. Yup, its all a shell game to fuck over the rubes..USA of course, all of us including the deplorables

Trump and his con man/family crime syndicate will drain this country of every dime he can before its over. He is a leech on the body politic.

A 1%er vampire.

[saidsimplesimon]

9. well said workinclasszero

[Rainngirl]

8. Exactly what I was going to add.

Thanks for the link.

[ChazInAz]

11. This is SO familiar.

Remember the Domino Theory from the Cold War?
They've just changed our bogeyman to ISIS rather than the Godless Communists.
Didn't believe it then, either.

[MrModerate]

12. These people have serious short-term memory problems. n/t

[bdamomma]

14. this filthy regime

we have in WH has no strategy whatsoever, they are just winging it without knowing the consequences of their actions. Why is the fucking Congress on vacation???

[ananda]

15. What I learned from this interview.

It's clear that Tillerson is waayy out of his depth in foreign relations
and diplomacy. He may have been a competent CEO, whatever that
means, but he is totally garbled here.

Not only is the mess regarding, Syria, Assad, Russia, and ISIS chaotic
(to put it mildly) but Tillerson's, and by proxy 45's, engagement in
this chaotic mess is itself chaotic.

Stephanopoulos directly asked Tillerson whether his comments in Turkey
gave Assad the green light to use chemical weapons; and Tillerson deflected
by saying no, that just what Assad does, just part of a series. He even had
the gall to bring up Obama's brokered agreement with Russia to contain
Assad, but without mentioning Obama at all; and then put the blame on
Russia for not making sure that Assad got rid of the weapons.

The elephant in the room that wasn't mentioned was Exxon and oil deals.
That's because the key to Russia's keeping Assad in line was sanctions;
and neither Tillerson nor 45 want to keep those sanctions on Russia.

So in my view the inverview was more interesting and enlightening for
the questions Steph avoided asking, and for Tillerson's steering clear
of the real issue at stake for him and 45: oil and being able to do business
with Russia in order to profit from oil deals.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

16. Let's break the past two weeks down:

1. Syrian atrocities are not our problem.

BUT THEN....

2. SYRIAN ATTROCITIES ARE OUR PROBLEM! QUICK, LET'S SHOOT OFF A BUNCH OF MISSILES AFTER TELLING RUSSIA!!!!!!

AND THEN.....

3. (Clears throat) Syrian atrocities are not our problem.

[NastyRiffraff]

17. Yeah, that about sums it up

Internal consistency isn't this mid-administration's strong point.

What the HELL is Tillerson doing in the SoS office? Oh yeah, he's buds with some Russians.

[Warpy]

18. Then Putin's interview would have been a sensible one

Yes, the raving lunatic Islmists in DAESH need to be removed as any sort of factor. The Caliphate is dead for now but they don't know how to stop fighting. It's all over but the last roundup and the usual Middle East mass executions with streets and rivers running red with blood.

Once that happens, the exhausted rebels and equally exhausted state forces will have to figure out how to deal with each other. A plebiscite and partition have been proposed in the past, but with each side controlling widely discontinuous territories, that would be another mess.

Tillerson is right about this one. It will have to be done through negotiation and concessions and Putin is about the only one who can drag Assad to the table.

[Cha]

19. And, the US m$m is left caught

with their metaphorical pants down again.

Mahalo for this, Riff