Those Tomahawk missiles cost US$1.5 million each.Trump is a sharholder in Raecom. LOL
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-how-much-it-will-cost-to-replace-the-tomahawks-used-in-syria-2017-04-07

What is the truth?
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-story-youve-been-hearing-about-the-%E2%80%98mother-all-bombs%E2%80%99-20181
and
http://taskandpurpose.com/russian-father-bombs-moab

Trump has used a weapon of mass destruction.

Those 59 rockets would have best been kept in reserve for use against North Korea, which, unlike Syria, is a real threat to the U.S. and the free world.

And, don't worry about China. China doesn't want millions of refugees streaming over their border and, as the only ally of North Korea, they will shortly pull the fat lunatic with the bad haircut into line themselves, particularly now that Trump has had the nuts to steam a fleet into the region.

Hi Ttbn,

The problem with steaming a battle fleet into a touchy region is: do you stop at some critical point, or do you keep going ? There's no point sitting still, like turds in a duck pond, which would have to happen sooner or later, unless they end up off the coast of Pyongyang.

Here's an absurd hypothetical: what if, the moment that North Korean missile test went wrong, the US had stopped its fleet - i.e. we don't shove a stick into a snake's nest: if you - in effect - back off, we'll back off. Let's hose this down.

In the event of a war, Seoul, a city of ten million, would be bombarded up, down and sideways. Then Pyongyang would be similarly bombarded. North Korean troops would invade the South; South Korean and US troops would invade the North; Chinese troops would step in, and away we go again.

Crazy idea: what if China, Japan and south Korea offered to fund great numbers of modern industrial enterprises along the Yalu, each putting in 30 % of cost, with North Korea putting in 10 % BUT, at the end of, say, five or ten years, owning those enterprises outright ? Manag4ed well, they would have grown and diversified in ten years. I'm thinking of enterprises, using North Korean expertise and labour of course, which (presumably) the Chinese would be happy to transfer to North Korea, nothing too high-tech, maybe assembly plants.

Perhaps a naïve idea: but could it defuse the push for war on all sides, and at the same time, 'assist' the North Korean totalitarian state move towards integrating its economy with the rest of the world's, and raise the living conditions of some of the North Korean people ?

And give the Chinese time to move the regime away from the development of nuclear weapons, since China would cop the fallout of any war the most ? Yes, China uses NK as a pawn in its dealings with the US, but a pawn with unpredictable leaders, who may have expansionist designs on parts of China.

I'm a big fan of Pipes.
But this time he's wrong...or wrong at the moment. Trump hasn't declared against Assad or Russia or Syria. He's said there will be no US boots on the ground in Syria. Only if that changes will Pipes' assessment become valid.

The missile strike wasn't about taking sides in the Syrian conflict. It was about sending a message to various world players that the adults were back in charge of US policy.

There were few planes or lives lost here because he warned Putin beforehand. This was a message, not the start of a war.

But psychologically, everything has changed.Assad now knows that using chemical weapons will have consequences. Putin knows he now has to factor the US into his Syrian (and Ukrainian and Baltic state) calculations. And most importantly, China and Kim now know that the US is serious about finally resolving the Korean issue.

My guess is that Trump and his team were waiting for an opportunity to send a message and the chemical attacks were that excuse. If you think it was mere coincidence that the missiles hit just as dessert was served in the Trump-Xi dinner, then I've got this bridge for sale I'd like to talk to you about.

The US has overwhelming power and no one would be prepared to take it on if they think it'll use that power. It hasn't been so prepared for the past decade, but the missile attack was showing that that's changed.

In the past China was happy to let the US flounder as it tried to deal with the maniacs in Pyongyang. But suddenly, China is jumping to Trump's tune and activiely trying to get Kim to see reason. The world has changed.

As an aside Trump tweeted today "Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem?" Translation - China's trade position with us depends on them doing all they can to solve the Kim problem. The art of the deal meets the art of war.

Hi MHaze,

Brilliant ! Now for Phase 2.

“Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now.”

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Your "Phase 2" mention is as cryptic as the petunias' lament. But, I suspect, significantly less profound.