Syria, President Asshat still using WMD?

I was disappointed at their response last week as they accepted the Russian line that a normal bomb had set off a rebel chemical weapons dump so therefore it wasn't Assad's fault.
I think every chemical weapon expert in the world then turned round and said that was bollocks yet still the UN did nothing (as usual).

It must be difficult for them to give a shit about stuff like this while they're accommodated in top-notch hotels, etc around the world.

I remember seeing images of rag wearing displaced refugees from the Balkans freezing in the open during a cold winter while their various leaders were all smiles and handshakes wearing business suits (or medal-festooned combat gear) and being waited on hand and foot in the lap of luxury at some marble lined venue in Geneva.
I bet theyd've come to a deal somewhat quicker in an unheated hut halfway up an Alp.

I smell something very fishy. Assad and the Russians had nothing to gain but very much to lose through the use of WMD's. Assad and Putin are very astute fellows, I can't see any circumstances by wich ordering the use of WMD's would be a good idea.

Much is puzzling in this affairs and what is certain is that we don't know the half of it. However, it's also perfectly conceivable that Assad thought he had the cat in the bag after what the Americans had said the previous week, and figured that Trump wouldn't want to (i) change tack or (ii) annoy the Russians. And I'd be willing to bet he would do that without consulting the Russians first. Assad may be astute in some senses, but every interview I've ever seen with him makes him come across as utterly divorced from reality and of a mindset that sees individual citizens as simple pawns to be expended at will.

I must be a cynic because this is the only scenario that maked sense to me

The UN is one of the most corrupt organizations on the planet.Decisions are made based on voting pacts much like the eurovision song contest.

I have personal experience in th epast with quite senior UN staff and it is a disgrace of an organization.

This is one instance (the only?) where I agree with Trump. It still pains me that the action of the UK Parliament (steered by Ed "the wrong" Milliband) prevented a similar punishment strike after the last large-scale gas attacks on civilians in Syria. Then was a much more suitable time to act than now. People need to understand the difference between a punishment strike and putting boots on the ground, or getting involved in the ongoing war.

Limited strikes won't end the humanitarian crisis but the latest attack again crossed a red line for me, which needed a response before more "rogue states" try it on.

Why Assad would do it - after claiming to have got rid of WMD - is a good question. The Russians are absolute experts at spreading "fake news" and challenging "the establishment" online and - as they did after shooting down that Malaysian airlines jet - they make a lot of noise very quickly. But nerve agent especially, and chemical weapons generally, are quite difficult to deliver effectively without destroying the agent (which is what would happen if you accidentally hit the munitions dump, as the Russians claim). I suspect - just like when the Malaysian jet was downed - the shit hit the fan big time in the Russian high command, unless this was just an early feeler to see just how pro-Russia Trump was feeling. In which case it backfired - badly.

The Syrians have used chemical weapons quite regularly on a small scale, this just happened to be another large scale attack, and probably got more news coverage, more quickly, than the Syrians/Russians anticipated... And the Russians are absolute arseholes - they have systematically and deliberately targeted hospitals and aid organisations again and again during their involvement in Syria, while constantly denying it. Trust nothing they say.

The Asshat has a very credible cover for using this kind of weapon and that is playing Russia and the US against each other. Putin and Trump also need to have a credible cover for any conspiracist suggestion that they are in league with each other. Sabre rattling it may be but Asshat is covered either way.

Pentagon awards contract to United Airlines to forcibly remove Assad:


link

It was certainly the creed that Napoloen's Imperial Guard followed at Waterloo and General Pickett's Confederates at Gettysburgh or Ludendorff's offensives on the Western Front in 1917 and it all worked out well for them. Or King Harold's army at the Battle of Hastings in 1066...

Oh hang on...