US ships firing Tomahawk missiles
President Trump har allerede beordret Tomahawk missilangreb på Syrien i både april 2017 og april 2018.
Hændelserne er i hurtig bevægelse i Syrien, mens russiske fly bomber oprørspositioner i Idlib provinsen og mens den Syriske hær begynder sin grundoffensiv, som Damascus har beskrevet som en udvikling med en "gradvis" tilnærmelse.

Det Hvide Hus besvarede den syriske og den russiske bombekampagne ved at love at det ville handle "hurtigt og energisk" hvis kemiske våben skulle blive taget i anvendelse, og hævdede for en dag siden, at der var en masse beviser for kemiske våben er under forberedelse af Syriske styrker, og henviste til efterretningskilder.

Og nu har Amerikas øverste general bekræftet, at Pentagon forbereder deres militære muligheder for at angribe Syrien og er nu i nære forhandlinger med det Hvide Hus angående disse planer. Marinegeneral Joseph Dunford, formand for Joint Chiefs of Staff, fortalte, ifølge Reuters lørdag journalister under en tur til Indien:


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...he was involved in "routine dialogue" with the White House about military options should Syria ignore U.S. warnings against using chemical weapons in an expected assault on the enclave of Idlib.
However, Gen. Dunford noted that no decision has been made to intervene militarily in response to Idlib.

"But we are in a dialogue, a routine dialogue, with the president to make sure he knows where we are with regard to planning in the event that chemical weapons are used," he told a group of reporters.

Dunford added in reference to his talks with President Trump: "He expects us to have military options and we have provided updates to him on the development of those military options."


Trump had previously bombed Syria twice after allegations that Assad ordered a chemical weapons attack - in April 2017 and April 2018 - the former was in response to a claimed sarin attack on Idlib.

White House officials have vowed to hold Assad responsible for any chemical attack allegations that emerge.



When pressed by reporters over whether the US actually has intelligence to back its claims, Gen. Dunford responded, "I wouldn't comment on intelligence at all, in terms of what we have, what we don't have."

Meanwhile in Idlib, some truly strange theatrics have already begun, with Al Jazeera depicting locals preparing paper cups, bags and cotton, which are somehow supposed to serve as "chemical protective" gear.


Nevermind that nerve agents are absorbed through the skin, or that a little cotton and charcoal can do nothing, it's all about setting the stage for a "provocation" in order to draw in US military intervention against Assad's forces.

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Meanwhile Russia has cited its own intelligence saying that Syrian armed groups in Idlib are preparing for a staged chemical provocation, which Moscow says the West will use to justify a strike against Syrian government forces.

Speaking to Newsweek ahead of this week's events, Syria analyst Joshua Landis said that there is every reason to doubt the veracity of past rebel claims regarding government chemical weapons usage - a surprising admission given his prominence as speaking from within the heart of the media foreign policy establishment.


Landis said, "I don't know what to make of the U.S. and Russian war of words over the potential use of chemical weapons in Idlib. The final reports on the use of chemical weapons in Ghouta were not definitive."

"There was no evidence found for the use of nerve agents, but controversy over the use of chlorine gas.The rebels had reason to carry out a false flag operation, as the regime and Russians suggested, but the regime refused to let U.N. inspectors in to test for chemical weapons until after a lengthy delay, which was suspicious," he concluded.