Impulsive, inconsistent, incoherent: Trump’s rationale for missile strikes

Impulsive, inconsistent, and incoherent: these are the hallmarks of Donald Trump and his administration. Yesterday, the United States launched a missile attach on Syria in response to Syria’s apparent use of chemical weapons. His justification for the launch rested on two pillars. The first a “humanitarian” claim that appeals to our pathos: “Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.” The second claim is national security: “It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.”

For the second to make political sense, we would need to know that Syria’s use of poison gas represents a threat to U.S. national security. There is no serious suggestion anywhere that Syria’s use of gas, awful though it is, represents a direct threat to American security.

So how do we explain Trump’s order to launch a strike?

Politics, pure and simple.

Trump’s agenda at home is in tatters. Courts have slammed the brakes on his attempts to impose his ban on immigrants. His vaunted “plan” to repeal the ACA imploded. His White House is riven by infighting. Both the Senate and the House are investigating his administration’s ties to Russia.

So a quick blast at a regime that no-one but Russia and Iran can defend makes good political sense. It buys Trump the admiration of the hawks who have slammed him for his cozying up to Putin. It buys him support from the most hawkish supporters of Israel. And it rallies some of American’s most militant allies on the Middle East.

But it is at best a short-term fix to Trump’s political problems. Blasting a Syrian airbase will not halt the civil war. While the strike has already alienated Russia, that will not erase the coziness of Trump, his friends, and his cronies with Putin and his agents before and during the campaign. No one will seriously believe that the strike represent a real concern for children. And no one who thinks about the morass of the Middle East will entertain the hope that such a strike will improve the prospects for a resolution to the conflicts in Syria and the Middle East. Impulsive, inconsistent, incoherent — and ultimately self-defeating.