What’s happening in Syria?

On April 4, in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun, poison fell from the sky. The Syrian Army (although President Bashar al-Assad denies any wrongdoing) used chemical weapons on its citizens in the most recent atrocity committed in the course of a long civil war. As hundreds were rushed to hospitals, officials began to suspect that Syria used some form of sarin gas (the use of sarin has been confirmed). This chemical pushes neurotransmitters into hyper-drive, so your body then starts to overproduce and excrete bodily fluids.

This sickening reality of chemical weapons is why the world has long banned the use of them. Officially, the U.N. General Assembly approved the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prevents the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons. Syria became party to this treaty in September 2013.

U.S. ambassador to the United Nation, Nikki Haley, quickly condemned the attacks and asked for the U.N. to take concrete action, while criticizing Russia for their continued support of the Assad regime. Haley closed her remarks by stating that, “[w]hen the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action.”

The United States followed through with their ‘own action’ on April 6. President Trump made the call to launch 59 Tomahawk missiles, their target, the Al-Shayrat airfield in Syria. This attack, marked Trump’s largest military maneuver since taking office. Trump stated that he decided to retaliate against Syria to deter future use of chemical weapons.

Many in Congress praised the action, however others criticized Trump for not seeking congressional approval. Moreover, it appears that the U.S. did communicate to Russia that an attack was imminent, which troubled many due to the administrations alleged ties to Russia.

Now many are asking, what does this mean for America’s continued role in the Middle East? It appears that the United States is increasing its military presence in the Middle East. On Tuesday, April 11, the U.S., in a coalition strike against ISIS, conducted a drone strike, accidentally killing 18 ally troops in Syria. Moreover, the U.S. dropped ‘the mother of all bombs’ or GBU-43/B Massive Ordinance Air Blast (MOAB) in Afghanistan against ISIS on Thursday, April 13, killing an estimated 94 ISIS fighters, according to an Afghan official. Three high profile military operations in a short period of time seem to clarify that Trump will prefer using the U.S. military’s capabilities to their fullest and showy capacity versus President Obama’s preferred method of targeted drone strikes. Moreover, is this ramping up of military strikes a sign that the Trump administration will favor bombs over diplomacy? And if so, who’s the next target?