Was Putin Complicit In War Crime

The Associated Press reported Monday that Russia had previous knowledge of the attack on civilians by Syria that used chemical weapons. President Donald Trump responded to the attack last week by unleashing 59 cruise missiles onto a military complex including an airfield on Friday. Reports indicate that as many as 20% of the Syrian air force was destroyed in the attack.

Both Republicans and Democrats praised Trump for the focus and decisiveness of the attack. His action was also well received by many allies including the UK, France, Germany and Israel among others. But now if the AP report is accurate is leaves the United States in a very difficult position. How does the White House respond if the Kremlin was knowingly withholding information about the use of chemical weapons against civilians?

Such a barbaric act would certainly require a response. If not military then it would almost require the international community to condemn the act and impose severe sanctions against Vladimir Putin and his Russian Government.

The fact that Russia was supposed to be in charge of making sure Syria had no more chemical weapons is also very troublesome. Former President Barack Obama had assured the American people and the world that he had led diplomatic efforts to bring Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles to an end. Both Obama and the very controversial Susan Rice will find themselves at the center of yet another political storm even though they both departed the White House weeks ago. Rice was also one of those in the previous administration that proclaimed Bashir Al Assad had agreed to get rid of his chemical weapons stockpile. We were assured that diplomacy had triumphed over evil. President Obama was able to walk away from his failure to act in the face of chemical weapons attacks in 2013 with the knowledge the threat had been neutralized.

We now know that didn’t happen.

Others say this is a false flag and the so-called Deep State is manipulating President Trump into a fight with Russia, Iran, Syria and others. There is not a shred of evidence for that claim but hey you never know I guess.