As he enters his 11th week in office as President of the United States, Donald Trump has had to make some huge and heavy decisions, including the decision on Thursday when ordered a missile strike targeting an air base in Syria. The decision to attack was made after Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime carried out a chemical attack on his people, including several children, that left 70 dead.
This is not the first time this kind of atrocious chemical attack, specifically a sarin nerve gas attack has been levied by Assad. Just a few years ago in 2013 the first attack occurred just outside of Damascus and left over 1400 dead. When this happened, then President Barak Obama had appealed to Congress for permission to respond to the attacks with a strike. In this instance, a total of 183 Republicans opposed a strike, leaving only 12 believing an attack should occur. Because so many in Congress, including several Democrats, were against the idea of involving the United States with such an attack, President Obama ended up withdrawing his request for a vote due to lack of support.
To many, President Trump’s move to bomb has come as a surprise. In the past, he has presented himself as someone who disagrees with the United States involving themselves in the affairs of foreign countries, including expressing his disapproval with President Obama’s request for the use of force. In the tweet, he expressed his concern that all a strike would accomplish is further debt and another long term conflict. He also stated that Obama needed to obtain permission from Congress before moving forward.
Seeking approval from Congress is a step that President Trump did not take before his he ordered the strike against the Assad regime. He defended his choice to make the attack in a statement saying that the attacks were barbaric, and no child should have to go through what these just did.
With his tweet stating just “God bless the USA!”, it appears that even members of Congress such as Representative Jasen Chaffetz are not in disagreement with the actions of the president. This even though Chaffetz was one of the Republicans who was vocal about his disapproval in 2013. Senator Marco Rubio also apparently agrees with the decision, tweeting Proverbs 11:21, “Be sure of this. The wicked will not go unpunished.” followed with a hashtag, #SyriaChemicalAttack.
Even Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain publically expressed approval in a joint statement. In the declaration, they accused the previous administration of not taking action and applauded Trump for making the right decision.