Read Closer, Look Deeper
This is a reactive time with news on many fronts. Here is our challenge: to read between the lines, to think critically, and at the same time to see the bigger picture.
Thursday night the US carried out a missile strike against Syria in response to the Syrian governments chemical weapons attack. Decisive response or military theatre, consequential action or distraction from US domestic conflicts and the Russia investigation? Hone your critical reading skills and watch closely how the story will skew over the next 36 hours.
Here are a few things to know:
In 2013, Trump's message to Obama was "to stay out of Syria" and warned of the immense monetary cost of such a maneuver.
Trump's first budget proposed to increase military spending by $54 billion and cut nonmilitary programs by the same amount.
In Thursday night's attack, the US launched 59 tomahawk missiles with each costing about $850,000 a piece, meaning cost of missiles alone was at least $50 million.
The Pentagon warned Russia ahead of the attacks knowing when they did that that Russian authorities may well have alerted the Assad regime.
Russian assets stationed at al-Shayrat since at least late 2015, were reportedly avoided in the strike.
Before the strike, the planned meeting between Secretary of State Tillerson and Putin had been expected to be dominated by the investigation into Russia’s cyberattacks and the interference in the presidential election on Mr. Trump’s behalf.
Several lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, have called on Trump to seek congressional authorization for military action against the regime of Syrian leader Bashar Assad.
We will be back soon with further action. In the meantime, keep your eye on the ball.