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From the transcript of his speech about the attack, it sounds like the intelligence community has pretty solid evidence and proof that the aircraft taking part

From the transcript of his speech about the attack, it sounds like the intelligence community has pretty solid evidence and proof that the aircraft taking part in the bombing left from the particular airfield that was targeted by the cruise missile strike. I shall hope that this will signal a renewal in the current administration's efforts to rely on actual government intel services for strategic knowledge, as opposed to listening to talking heads on particular mainstream news and taking them at their word...

manicdee 10y ago
Remember when we had strong evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction?
- cyberferret 10y ago
  Fair enough - point taken. Also, just checking the news updates and it appears that the President did not clear this strike with congress, but instead informed the Russian authorities about his intentions before issuing the order. Is there any more clarification on this?
  - empressplay 10y ago
    Trump didn't need to clear it with congress, especially if there were suspicions another attack was imminent. (In any case, he has 90 days to get official sanction from congress.) Also worthy of note was the Russians could have shot the missiles down but didn't.
  - dvfjsdhgfv 10y ago
    Why do you think informing the Russians was inappropriate? The situation is very delicate - two superpowers fight a war, supporting in a limited way two opposing sides of a conflict. US informing the Russians means they give them enough time to evacuate their people. The intention is not to kill Russians or to start a much more terrible war.
- dnautics 10y ago
  Well, he did. If you recall carefully, he had wmd that he failed to register with the un inspection team. (He had made them before, they were cataloged by the un and he was supposed to submit to periodic inspection to make sure they were still under seal). After the us invaded, those and were found, of course still under seal and not a threat to anyone. The us quietly took them away to be disposed. Basically, either Hussein was incompetent or he was trying to play a game of brinkmanship with the international community that he lost. Whether or not his actions justified invasion by the us is debatable (I do not believe so). Also the us repeatedly blatantly misrepresented Hussein to paint him as collaborating with "terrorists". but the fact is he did have wmd.
  - dnautics 10y ago
    Scott Ritter (not exactly a gwb apologist): "There's no doubt Iraq hasn't fully complied with its disarmament obligations as set forth by the Security Council in its resolution. But on the other hand, since 1998 Iraq has been fundamentally disarmed: 90-95% of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capacity has been verifiably eliminated ... We have to remember that this missing 5-10% doesn't necessarily constitute a threat ... It constitutes bits and pieces of a weapons program which in its totality doesn't amount to much, but which is still prohibited ... We can't give Iraq a clean bill of health, therefore we can't close the book on their weapons of mass destruction. But simultaneously, we can't reasonably talk about Iraqi non-compliance as representing a de-facto retention of a prohibited capacity worthy of war"
- k-mcgrady 10y ago
  Syrian chemical weapons are very different though because we've seen them and they agreed to destroy them.
- simonh 10y ago
  Thinking someone has them and watching someone use them are a bit different. As it happens Saddam did actually use chemical weapons against the Kurds in the 80s.
  - pabloski 10y ago
    Chemical weapons sold by the US, to be used against Iran.
    - simonh 10y ago
      I don't think the US sold him chemical weapons, maybe the chemicals to make chemical weapons. But Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Iraq to sell him high resolution satellite imagery of norther Iraq, so Saddam knew exactly where the chemical weapons he attacked the Kurds with needed to be dropped.
    - dnautics 10y ago
      while the US did a lot of shady things in Iraq, selling chemical weapons was not one of them. Iraq manufactured all of their CW, and the expertise to make those factories came from Germany. The financing to build those factories came from the UK.
molmalo 10y ago
There's little doubt that the aircraft left that airfield. What both sides are discussing is the origin of the gas. From the article: "Russia said the deaths were caused by a Syrian strike on a terrorist chemical lab, but the United States, other nations and human rights groups rejected that claim as baseless."

manicdee 10y ago

Remember when we had strong evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction?

cyberferret 10y ago
Fair enough - point taken. Also, just checking the news updates and it appears that the President did not clear this strike with congress, but instead informed the Russian authorities about his intentions before issuing the order. Is there any more clarification on this?
- empressplay 10y ago
  Trump didn't need to clear it with congress, especially if there were suspicions another attack was imminent. (In any case, he has 90 days to get official sanction from congress.) Also worthy of note was the Russians could have shot the missiles down but didn't.
- dvfjsdhgfv 10y ago
  Why do you think informing the Russians was inappropriate? The situation is very delicate - two superpowers fight a war, supporting in a limited way two opposing sides of a conflict. US informing the Russians means they give them enough time to evacuate their people. The intention is not to kill Russians or to start a much more terrible war.
dnautics 10y ago
Well, he did. If you recall carefully, he had wmd that he failed to register with the un inspection team. (He had made them before, they were cataloged by the un and he was supposed to submit to periodic inspection to make sure they were still under seal). After the us invaded, those and were found, of course still under seal and not a threat to anyone. The us quietly took them away to be disposed. Basically, either Hussein was incompetent or he was trying to play a game of brinkmanship with the international community that he lost. Whether or not his actions justified invasion by the us is debatable (I do not believe so). Also the us repeatedly blatantly misrepresented Hussein to paint him as collaborating with "terrorists". but the fact is he did have wmd.
- dnautics 10y ago
  Scott Ritter (not exactly a gwb apologist): "There's no doubt Iraq hasn't fully complied with its disarmament obligations as set forth by the Security Council in its resolution. But on the other hand, since 1998 Iraq has been fundamentally disarmed: 90-95% of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capacity has been verifiably eliminated ... We have to remember that this missing 5-10% doesn't necessarily constitute a threat ... It constitutes bits and pieces of a weapons program which in its totality doesn't amount to much, but which is still prohibited ... We can't give Iraq a clean bill of health, therefore we can't close the book on their weapons of mass destruction. But simultaneously, we can't reasonably talk about Iraqi non-compliance as representing a de-facto retention of a prohibited capacity worthy of war"
k-mcgrady 10y ago
Syrian chemical weapons are very different though because we've seen them and they agreed to destroy them.
simonh 10y ago
Thinking someone has them and watching someone use them are a bit different. As it happens Saddam did actually use chemical weapons against the Kurds in the 80s.
- pabloski 10y ago
  Chemical weapons sold by the US, to be used against Iran.
  - simonh 10y ago
    I don't think the US sold him chemical weapons, maybe the chemicals to make chemical weapons. But Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Iraq to sell him high resolution satellite imagery of norther Iraq, so Saddam knew exactly where the chemical weapons he attacked the Kurds with needed to be dropped.
  - dnautics 10y ago
    while the US did a lot of shady things in Iraq, selling chemical weapons was not one of them. Iraq manufactured all of their CW, and the expertise to make those factories came from Germany. The financing to build those factories came from the UK.

molmalo 10y ago

There's little doubt that the aircraft left that airfield. What both sides are discussing is the origin of the gas. From the article: "Russia said the deaths were caused by a Syrian strike on a terrorist chemical lab, but the United States, other nations and human rights groups rejected that claim as baseless."