MIDEAST WARNING – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  We will soon have to make critical decisions on Syria.  Life and death decisions.  From Reuters:   

The White House said on Monday it appears the Syrian government is preparing for another chemical weapons attack and it warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad he and his military would "pay a heavy price" if it conducts such an attack.

The White House statement said preparations by Syria were similar to those undertaken before an April 4 chemical attack that killed dozens of civilians and prompted President Donald Trump to order a cruise missile strike on a Syrian air base.

Trump ordered the strike on the Shayrat airfield in Syria in April in reaction to what Washington said was a poison gas attack by Assad's government that killed at least 70 people in rebel-held territory. Syria denied it carried out the attack.

The strike was the toughest direct US action yet in Syria's six-year-old civil war, raising the risk of confrontation with Russia and Iran, Assad's two main military backers.

US officials at the time called the intervention a "one-off" intended to deter future chemical weapons attacks and not an expansion of the US role in the Syrian war.

COMMENT:  Much of this mess can be attributed to the weakness of Barack Obama.  Flash weakness and you get, not peace, but more war.

Now we are on the brink of further American military action in Syria.  Thanks, Barack.  Enjoy your $65-million book contract.  I'm sure you'll have much to say, and excuse.

June 27, 2017