7 ms·

U.S. Launches Attacks on Syria

53 points by plessthanpt05 9y ago

jumelles 9y ago
The UK and France, too
cycrutchfield 9y ago
Wag the Dog
- MBCook 9y ago
  Who would have guessed after the Cohen raid, Comey book, start of the Stormy trial, constant Pruitt news, renewed discussions about him being unhinged, and everything else the president would want to distract people? Why no one predicted this at all. Certainly not 18+ months ago.
  - not_kurt_godel 9y ago
    I think plenty of people predicted it, especially after Bolton’s appointment. It’s a stupid reaction by a stupid man to circumstances arising directly (and indirectly) from his own stupid actions and decisions.
eeks 9y ago
The day when Trump lost 90% of his base.
- monocasa 9y ago
  If only.
- miketery 9y ago
  They'll support him more than ever. "Unlike weak Obama, who let others walk all over his red line, TRUMP did what needed to be done!" You can come up with pro & con arguments for anything if you try. Most people don't want to look at the net of those pro and cons, and simply select only some, this is how we get polarization.
  - geofft 9y ago
    That is, in fact, a significant number of the comments here: https://np.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/8c45dk/president_trump_announcement_regarding_syria/ https://np.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/8c45dk/president... "Trust Trump." "We don't know what Trump knows. I trust him to make the right decision." "He wouldn’t do this if it weren’t appropriate. I’m not happy about the decision but it’s not like we are deploying battalions to restructure their government." "Unless you are in a very small circle of people receiving daily intelligence briefings, you do not know anything, you can only guess and play armchair President." Of course, none of these people would have extended the same courtesy to President Obama, and they've been playing armchair Secretary of State for like three years. On the other hand there are quite a number of people who are genuinely disappointed or unhappy, which is - oddly - pretty heartening.
pcunite 9y ago
YouTube version: https://youtu.be/n0pMQHNjtxc?t=3m34s https://youtu.be/n0pMQHNjtxc?t=3m34s
Proven 9y ago
The NATO are globalist, totalitarian NWO fascists
branchless 9y ago
Because killing thousands with bombs is morally superior to using chemical weapons. UK along for the ride. As always.
- deepbreath 9y ago
  Is there reason to believe the strikes will result in thousands of innocent casualties? They claim that they're only striking "chemical weapon research facilities". Looks like it's 4am there, so I guess not a lot of people in research facilities (plus they've been forewarned of the potential strikes)
  - written 9y ago
    All I hope is that the regime didn't do the same shitty thing it did in anticipation of Obama's response in 2013, when they moved prisoners into evacuated air bases, in hopes that the US will kill them.
  - branchless 9y ago
    I mean before this in various regions it's been fine for the west to pummel places yet when one small attack (which I also disagree with) happens it's a "red line". I find it a little hard to swallow their concern for innocents driving this action.
Nuzzerino 9y ago
Keep an eye on the DEFCON Warning System Twitter. A few minutes ago, they stated that a counter-attack has been launched, according to Syrian National TV. https://twitter.com/DEFCONWSALERTS https://twitter.com/DEFCONWSALERTS
- written 9y ago
  Just take the info with a grain of salt. Counterattack on whom? US forces in the east? US/French ships in the west?
  - Nuzzerino 9y ago
    Erm, I think most of the readers here understand how to think critically.
    - written 9y ago
      Have you looked around? :)
abecedarius 9y ago
What’s the story on how this is legal? I know that “Congress declares war, not the president” has been getting increasingly theoretical, but getting an explicit justification now might matter later when the politics have changed.
- kss238 9y ago
  The President can deploy military personnel for up to 90 days without congressional approval.
  - manjushri 9y ago
    Haven't US special forces been in Syria for years now?
    - helixten 9y ago
      Yeah they are attacking ISIL part of Operation Inherent Resolve https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Inherent_Resolve https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Inherent_Resolve
    - johnny313 9y ago
      There are currently 2,000 US troops in Syria [0] [0] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/11/world/middleeast/syria-military-us-russia-iran.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/11/world/middlee...
- severine 9y ago
  Not exactly legal: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-military-strike-on-syria-will-be-illegal https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-military-strike-on-syri... https://www.thedailybeast.com/whats-inside-trumps-secret-war-powers-memo https://www.thedailybeast.com/whats-inside-trumps-secret-war...
plessthanpt05 9y ago
Scrubbed from the front page, huh?
- poisonarena 9y ago
  appears to be!
- Jerry2 9y ago
  Always censorship going on.
- written 9y ago
  Probably too early for anyone to have any substantial comments anyway.
- 3131s 9y ago
  Like always on HN when the topic is US militarism. This one immediately got 40+ upvotes and managed to last what, 30 minutes? What a disgrace. EDIT: same fate for this submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16835364 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16835364

53 points by plessthanpt05 9y ago

jumelles 9y ago

The UK and France, too

cycrutchfield 9y ago

Wag the Dog

MBCook 9y ago
Who would have guessed after the Cohen raid, Comey book, start of the Stormy trial, constant Pruitt news, renewed discussions about him being unhinged, and everything else the president would want to distract people? Why no one predicted this at all. Certainly not 18+ months ago.
- not_kurt_godel 9y ago
  I think plenty of people predicted it, especially after Bolton’s appointment. It’s a stupid reaction by a stupid man to circumstances arising directly (and indirectly) from his own stupid actions and decisions.

eeks 9y ago

The day when Trump lost 90% of his base.

monocasa 9y ago
If only.
miketery 9y ago
They'll support him more than ever. "Unlike weak Obama, who let others walk all over his red line, TRUMP did what needed to be done!" You can come up with pro & con arguments for anything if you try. Most people don't want to look at the net of those pro and cons, and simply select only some, this is how we get polarization.
- geofft 9y ago
  That is, in fact, a significant number of the comments here: https://np.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/8c45dk/president_trump_announcement_regarding_syria/ https://np.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/8c45dk/president... "Trust Trump." "We don't know what Trump knows. I trust him to make the right decision." "He wouldn’t do this if it weren’t appropriate. I’m not happy about the decision but it’s not like we are deploying battalions to restructure their government." "Unless you are in a very small circle of people receiving daily intelligence briefings, you do not know anything, you can only guess and play armchair President." Of course, none of these people would have extended the same courtesy to President Obama, and they've been playing armchair Secretary of State for like three years. On the other hand there are quite a number of people who are genuinely disappointed or unhappy, which is - oddly - pretty heartening.

pcunite 9y ago

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/n0pMQHNjtxc?t=3m34s https://youtu.be/n0pMQHNjtxc?t=3m34s

Proven 9y ago

The NATO are globalist, totalitarian NWO fascists

branchless 9y ago

Because killing thousands with bombs is morally superior to using chemical weapons. UK along for the ride. As always.

deepbreath 9y ago
Is there reason to believe the strikes will result in thousands of innocent casualties? They claim that they're only striking "chemical weapon research facilities". Looks like it's 4am there, so I guess not a lot of people in research facilities (plus they've been forewarned of the potential strikes)
- written 9y ago
  All I hope is that the regime didn't do the same shitty thing it did in anticipation of Obama's response in 2013, when they moved prisoners into evacuated air bases, in hopes that the US will kill them.
- branchless 9y ago
  I mean before this in various regions it's been fine for the west to pummel places yet when one small attack (which I also disagree with) happens it's a "red line". I find it a little hard to swallow their concern for innocents driving this action.

Nuzzerino 9y ago

Keep an eye on the DEFCON Warning System Twitter. A few minutes ago, they stated that a counter-attack has been launched, according to Syrian National TV. https://twitter.com/DEFCONWSALERTS https://twitter.com/DEFCONWSALERTS

written 9y ago
Just take the info with a grain of salt. Counterattack on whom? US forces in the east? US/French ships in the west?
- Nuzzerino 9y ago
  Erm, I think most of the readers here understand how to think critically.
  - written 9y ago
    Have you looked around? :)

abecedarius 9y ago

What’s the story on how this is legal? I know that “Congress declares war, not the president” has been getting increasingly theoretical, but getting an explicit justification now might matter later when the politics have changed.

kss238 9y ago
The President can deploy military personnel for up to 90 days without congressional approval.
- manjushri 9y ago
  Haven't US special forces been in Syria for years now?
  - helixten 9y ago
    Yeah they are attacking ISIL part of Operation Inherent Resolve https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Inherent_Resolve https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Inherent_Resolve
  - johnny313 9y ago
    There are currently 2,000 US troops in Syria [0] [0] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/11/world/middleeast/syria-military-us-russia-iran.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/11/world/middlee...
severine 9y ago
Not exactly legal: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-military-strike-on-syria-will-be-illegal https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-military-strike-on-syri... https://www.thedailybeast.com/whats-inside-trumps-secret-war-powers-memo https://www.thedailybeast.com/whats-inside-trumps-secret-war...

plessthanpt05 9y ago

Scrubbed from the front page, huh?

poisonarena 9y ago
appears to be!
Jerry2 9y ago
Always censorship going on.
written 9y ago
Probably too early for anyone to have any substantial comments anyway.
3131s 9y ago
Like always on HN when the topic is US militarism. This one immediately got 40+ upvotes and managed to last what, 30 minutes? What a disgrace. EDIT: same fate for this submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16835364 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16835364