Trump: Assad choked out the helpless 02:48
Story highlights
- Trump previously criticized Obama for discussing a "red line" on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
- The decision to use military force against Syria marks a remarkable reversal for Trump
(CNN)President
Donald Trump's decision to authorize a missile strike against a Syrian
air base Thursday night signals a major break not only with the Obama
administration but also with past statements made by the President
himself.
Fifty Tomahawk
missiles were fired at the air base from which the chemical attacks
against Syrian civilians were launched earlier this week and left more
than 70 people dead.
"It is in the
vital national security interests of America to prevent and deter the
the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons," Trump said in a
statement from his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The
decision to use military force against Syria marks a remarkable
reversal for Trump. In 2013, he was a vocal critic of President Barack
Obama's contemplation of strikes in Syria following President Bashar
al-Assad's initial use of chemical weapons against his own people.
(Obama had previously said that the use of chemical weapons against the
Syrian citizenry would be crossing a "red line" for him).
"What will we get for bombing Syria besides more debt and a possible long term conflict?" Trump asked in one tweet. "Obama needs Congressional approval."
In
another tweet, he wrote: "The President must get Congressional approval
before attacking Syria-big mistake if he does not!" Trump, however, did
not seek such authority from Congress before ordering Thursday's
attack.
During the course of his
2016 presidential campaign, Trump insisted that the Obama administration
was letting its commitment to political correctness outweigh the fight
against terrorism. He specifically targeted Obama's willingness to
accept Syrian refugees as a prime example of misguided policies that he
would change. He signed an executive order -- blocked by a federal court
-- that sought to ban all refugees from Syria.
What changed for Trump?
Judging from his public comments, the images he saw coming out of northwest Syria earlier this week.
At
a joint news conference with Jordan's King Abdullah on Wednesday, Trump
explained his change of heart this way: "Yesterday's chemical attack, a
chemical attack so horrific in Syria against innocent people including
women, small children, and even beautiful little babies, their deaths
was an affront to humanity. These heinous actions by the Assad regime
cannot be tolerated. My attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very
much."
There's
no question that some of Trump's shift is also explained by the massive
difference between being a private citizen offering a critique via
Twitter and being the president of the United States. The weight of the
office changes people.
It's also
important to remember how much the shadow of Obama hangs over Trump's
actions. Obama was regarded by most establishment Republicans as
feckless after failing to act once his self-described "red line" of
chemical attacks had been crossed. It became, in the minds of many, a
symbol of everything they disliked about Obama's foreign policy: He was
too timid to act when action was necessary.
Trump
is ever aware of showing people that he is both a) the anti-Obama and
b) a man of action. Whereas Obama let al-Assad cross a red line with no
penalty, Trump made clear on Wednesday that the chemical attack "crosses
many, many lines -- beyond a red line, many, many lines." And on
Thursday night, he turned that rhetoric into action.
Trump
has often touted his willingness to be flexible in his policy debates.
The decision to strike Syria seems to be Exhibit A of that trait.
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