Donald Trump’s controversial early presidency needed a circuitbreaker, the Syrian missile strike is just that
DONALD Trump’s well considered military action has provided the early days of his controversial presidency with a significant diversion.
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ALMOST every one of the 78 days since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States has been coloured by varying hues of scandal, disappointment and near-hysterical opposition to the outlier candidate.
The ongoing Russia controversy, a White House riven by palace intrigue and his failure to pass a single major piece of legislation have combined with the president’s own regular early morning tweetstorms to undermine his leadership.
It’s safe to say the most unpopular new president in recent history has needed a circuit breaker. And there’s nothing more effective at grabbing the world’s attention than a new war.
Trump’s first direct use of military power has been greeted with praise from some unlikely quarters, with even the New York Times and his Democrat rival for the presidency, Hillary Clinton, supporting the move.
War historian Arthur Herman said the Syria strike had presented Trump with an invaluable opportunity to recast himself as a powerful figure, rather than one of ridicule and disdain.
“The sophistication of the operation, the fact that his entire national security team signed on to this, is a sign that this is in fact a very well-considered, I would even say a brilliant, stroke,” Herman told Fox News.
“For Americans now going forward, when they think about Donald Trump I think this is going to be in the back of their minds that this is a man who can carry out a master stroke of this kind.”
Trump deployed dozens of Tomahawk missiles from two US destroyers in the Mediterranean just 72 hours after government forces on Tuesday slaughtered more than 80 men, women and children in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in a devastating chemical attack.
The decisive strike was in sharp contrast with his administration’s statements until this week that the US would not involve itself further in Syria’s brutal civil war, which has raged for the past six years under Russian-backed dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Tuesday’s was not the first chemical assault by the Assad regime, and former president Barack Obama considered a military response to a 2013 attack on civilians.
Allies including Australia, Israel and Britain have praised this week’s US intervention, but it has sparked a furious response from Syria and its closest ally Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the strike as “aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law” and the country’s UN ambassador warned of “extremely serious” consequences.
A Russian warship sailed towards the two Navy destroyers that launched the 59 missiles, with the frigate Admiral Grigorovich heading through the Bosphorus Strait from the Black Sea, according to Fox News.
While Trump did not comment today on the attack, the US ambassador to the United Nations warned America would consider further action.
It was a remarkable finale to week in which Trump was already facing his strongest foreign policy test, as he met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
At top of their agenda was trade, how to deal with an increasingly aggressive North Korea as it seeks to build its nuclear capabilities and security in the South China Sea.
Trump decided on the Syria strike Thursday afternoon after meeting with his top military advisers, who had given him three retaliatory options.
In another indication of a change in direction for the mercurial president, he didn’t rely during his first foreign policy crisis on the advice of his political operatives, such as the controversial Steve Bannon (who has been granted unprecedented security powers) or his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Instead he turned to two seasoned military figures, Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis, a former Marine general, and National Security Advisor HR McMaster.
The trio first met Tuesday to present Trump with punishment options including diplomatic sanctions and a direct strike on Assad’s palace labelled a “decapitation” measure.
“He had a lot of questions and said he wanted to think about it but he also had some points he wanted to make. He wanted the options refined,” one official told Reuters.
After advice that it was better to minimise Syrian and Russian casualties and that an attack on Shayrat airfield would draw the strongest connection between the chemical attack and the strike, Trump chose what was described as the “minimum” option.
The decision to launch the strike came just hours before the two presidents were to share a formal dinner, in a move described as “unprecedented” during a state visit.
Military analyst Jack Keane said Trump would have been only too aware how his show of might would appear.
“He’s telling the Chinese that: ‘listen, the North Koreans are trying to weaponise intercontinental ballistic missiles and the rhetoric is that they will use them against my people’,” the former general told Fox News.
“Don’t push me into a corner where I have to use a military option to deal with them.”
While the US strike has been met with some solid praise, Trump’s change in direction has upset some of his most strident far right supporters, who took to Twitter to criticise him.
“Trump campaigned on not getting involved in Mideast. Said it always helps our enemies & creates more refugees. Then he saw a picture on TV,” former chief cheerleader Ann Coulter said.
The machinations of this unusual White House are breathlessly covered by America’s cable news channels, and there was speculation of staff shake-ups and a restructure that would deliver a more traditional power structure.
It remains to be seen whether the actions of the newly presidential Trump will deliver him the validation he has been lacking.
But in an increasingly fraught world, there are early signals that Trump is starting to behave just a little more like a statesman than a salesman. And that can only be a good thing.
Originally published as Donald Trump’s controversial early presidency needed a circuitbreaker, the Syrian missile strike is just that
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