Trump on a bandwagon

Trump is probably really enjoying his weekend basking in the sunshine of newspaper headlines over his North Korea gamble. And judging by remarks today by Jim Mattis, his secretary of defence, he might be planning another foreign adventure. President Bashar al Assad, the normal-looking, decent-seeming, academically qualified, well-married monster of a dictator responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of his own people, has reopened his chlorine chemical wapons cupboard to hit targets in eastern Ghouta in the Damascus suburbs. There have been numerous reports of men, women AND children being rushed to hospital suffering from breathing difficulties and burns. The locals say it's chlorine or something similar. Mattis, in his quiet way which is so sounded effective, gave warning that Assad would be extremely unwise to use chlorine in his air attacks on eastern Ghouta. He also had a message for Moscow: either you are incompetent or you are allowing Assad to use chemical weapons. Or, I guess it's possible that Assad is doing it without Russia's knowledge or authority but this scenario seems most unlikely. Whatever the situation, Mattis appears to be warning Assad that if he uses or continues to use chlorine-filled bombs, his commander-in-chief is going to order another strike against a Syrian-regime airbase, like he did last year. A flurry of Tomahawks would give Assad a bloody nose and another surge in adrenalin for Trump. A promised deal with Kim Jong-un AND a bashing of Bashar, all in the period of around a week would give Trump a helluva boost and send signals around the world that the US is back in the globe-influencing business. If he's not going to launch a preemptive strike on North Korea's nuclear facilities, then hitting Assad sounds like a fair alternative! So watch this space - a terrible cliche but kind of appropriate in Trump's current triumphant mood.