The Trump Doctrine

In the first one hundred days of the Trump Administration the Tweeter-In-Chief has accomplished just about everything he promised. But his most important accomplishment was impromptu — the swift and effective retaliation against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s use of poison gas against civilians.

On Thursday evening (4/6/17) the U.S. Navy launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles against a Syrian airbase strongly suspected of storing, preparing and delivering the deadly Sarin nerve gas three days earlier. The air base was utterly destroyed.

“Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow, brutal death for so many,” Mr. Trump said in a national address. “No child of God should ever suffer such horror.”

Sarin was developed by German scientists at IG Farben in 1934, later perfected by many nations, and stored in vast quantities by the U.S. military at The Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver until it was systematically decommissioned and destroyed in the 1970s. Sarin and many other chemical weapons were outlawed worldwide in 1997. The clear, odorless gas can kill within one to ten minutes after exposure. Victims first notice a runny nose and coughing. Very quickly all bodily fluids are involuntarily voided, breathing muscles are paralyzed. The victim convulses and dies of asphyxiation.

Mr. Trump, apparently, was much affected by video of dead and dying children from the site of the gassing. All available evidence points to the cruel and unrepentant regime of al-Assad as the culprit, although analysts have yet to explain how perpetrating such an outrage would benefit him in battling the six-year insurgency against his regime.

Still, as the world continues to fill in the broad strokes of Trump’s presidency, one more trait is clear—Barak Obama’s policies of indifference and indecision are over. Moral relativism and appeasement of aggression will not be tolerated. Mr. Trump sent a clear message to the world on Thursday night, he is willing to use force against those who deserve it, and quickly. Interestingly, the broad world consensus sought by administrations before military action in similar situations since the turn of the century, seemed to coalesce the day after.

The Trump Doctrine: Carry a big stick and use it.