To shoot or not to shoot?

…not precisely Shakespeare I know, but let us try to ask this question.

Why doesn’t the USA hold a
National Referendum
on the 2nd amendment?

The gun debate continues to rage, with both sides of the argument using a variety of views to justify their stance on gun ownership. It also needs to be clear that both sides make compelling arguments that demand serious consideration. Perhaps the public should answer the question of whether it is a right to own a firearm or not.

Political figures are either pro-gun or anti-gun, but while everyone screams different arguments, nobody is taking the simple question and putting it on display.

And why would they?

It would put a debate to an end.
It would remove a reason for support.
It would remove one of their tools of gaining support.

Think about your position of the debate and see whom you supported because of that, and then look at the same politician’s public policies and tell me if you still agree. Some people will find that their stance on whom they support, rested on an argument of whether it is a right to own a firearm but found the public policies to be shocking.

And oh boy, is it media on board with this debate. Shocking news stories that inspire fear or anger is an excellent way to attract attention

So why not let the public decide? Put forward a vote…

Should people have the right to own a gun?

Let us say we removed guns?

….the pro-gun side ask: “Well what about the guns acquired or owned illegally?”

Everybody agrees that illegally owned weapons should be considered a serious crime.  The problem is that it is not considered one.

Don’t believe me?

In the US, it is a precise statistic that the vast majority of mass shootings take place with the use of a handgun.

Nevertheless, the average maximum penalty of the US for owning an unlicensed weapon is only 3.5 years, except for New York, where their laws state : 

Possess loaded firearm without permit, outside of person’s home or place of business: class C felony, classified as violent felony offense, punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum of 3.5 years
(Source)

So obviously, for some violent individuals, it is not that frightening to risk three and a half years in prison. 

Owning an unlicensed weapon should be a severe crime that should carry a very hefty punishment. Some might argue that this can be applied, but others might feel that it is not good enough. Either way, it would undoubtedly be a better stance at adding deterrents of obtaining illegal firearms. The risk of a mandatory long term sentence would undoubtedly make many individuals think twice about even acquiring the gun illegally, let alone attempting a violent action.

So then we keep the guns, right?

…hold on, should all guns be ok?

 

This machine gun is perfectly legal to own in the US, as long it is a semi-automatic. However, is it reasonably acceptable to own a weapon that can support such a high quantity of rounds and would permit an offender to spend such a long time in between having to re-load and thereby be a threat for much longer before being vulnerable to being subdued? (Image Source)

 

Well, the gun is useless without bullets. So why not place a cap on how many bullets certain guns owners can own.

This being defined by how much one gun can hold with being fully loaded.

 

You don’t need more than one magazine to protect yourself. Having enough to fire some warning shots and some for the possibility of an actual need for self-defence arising should be enough.

So do you agree that that the public should decide, once and for all?

Should people still have the right to own a gun?

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Advertisement

February 3, 2020 by Matthew Sciriha

Trump set for an unwelcoming state visit in the UK.

Source

Trump is set to visit the Uk on the 3rd of June, but many people don’t want him to.
A series of protests and boycotts are already lining up, as this could be one of the tensest state visits in recent years.

Source

So who’s not showing up to the state dinner?
Well, the Duchess of Sussex; Meghan Markle was openly against Trump, is set not to meet the US president during his state visit. Not quite snubbing the meeting, but she is on maternity leave from her duties, which conveniently includes state dinners and the such. Back in 2016, she made her position on Trump quite clear :
“You’re not just voting for a woman if it’s Hillary because she’s a woman, but certainly because Trump has made it easy to see that you don’t really want that kind of world that he’s painting.”
She is not the only royal with issues with the Trumpster, Prince Charles and Donald Trump have very different views on climate change. So the traditional invitation for visiting heads of state to Clarence house for tea might get lost in the mail. Not to mention that the last time the US president was in the UK, Prince Charles and Prince William were both err… “busy”. Charles at a board meeting and William at a charity polo match, giving him quite the royal “sod off” if you ask me.
So what do the politicians think?

Source (Image 1, Image 2, Image 3)

 

Parliament speaker John Bercow, Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn, Liberal Democrats Leader Sir Vince Cable all don’t want to meet trump and have already made it clear that they won’t be attending the state dinner.

Source

So far the only people in Parliament who seem to have openly and publically welcomed trump are:

• Theresa May (who barely has any friends at this point)
• Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt who said “the UK should offer the best possible welcome to the president( but let’s be honest it’s his job to be nice to Trump)

So the state dinner might have a few vacant seats… but that’s not the only place where the US president might get a cold reception.
State visits sometimes include a speech in the British parliament, but even here, there are already people who aren’t too keen on him being allowed into the building, let alone the House of Commons.
The moment everyone’s tension will be highest though will be two moments: Two speeches by the US president, one at the state dinner and one in the House of Commons. While the state dinner is important, the speech in the House of Commons is as well but parliament is a little more complicated. House Speaker John Bercow said he doesn’t feel that Donald Trump should be allowed to formally address the MPs but his office will put the request through the normal process just the same (despite he can technically Veto the speech).
And last but not certainly not least is the 200,000 protestors estimate to demonstrate. Aside from the return of the Trump baby, it seems that robot trump is also making its way to the UK.

And of course, the ironic twist of fate is that said “dumping” robot, was made in, you guessed it… China.

And with the success of the Trump baby balloon last year, it’s organisers are planning for a bigger one with talks about the possibility of a hot air balloon version.

 

But is all this necessary, in the past the Queen entertained Romania’s Ceauşescu, Zimbabwe’s Mugabe and Zaire’s Mobutu. Alongside them, Trump might seem an angel.

The more hate is thrown at him, the more his supporters will rally to defend him. Which raises the question, if so many people hate him and want him out of office, why is there a fear that he will take the second term?

May 19, 2019October 3, 2019 by Matthew Sciriha

Labelled the worst humanitarian crisis

 

Source

While Syria takes centre stage in world news, not everyone is aware of the crisis in Yemen. The UN has reported that Yemen is currently the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. A country that is on the brink of starvation and is faced with a grim future.

 

A civil war between the government backing coalition forces, a southern separatist group; but they aren’t the only players, large portions of the country are under the control of terror cells Al-Qaeda and IS.

But the real punch that sent the country into free fall… a blockade.

Source

In 2015, coalition forces between the US-backed Saudis and the Yemeni Government set up an air and naval blockade, stifling of food and medicine coming into the country. For a country that would import approx 90% of its food and medicine, this was the start of a living nightmare.

 

Yemen was now a nation under siege and divided from within. In December 2017 the ban was partially lifted, but it was too little too late.

Currently, about two-thirds of the country is considered to be pre-famine.

2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview for Yemen report, reflects

• 14.3 million people are classified as being in acute need,
• of which 3.2 million requiring treatment for acute malnutrition;
  • including two million children under-five,
  • and more than one million pregnant and lactating women.

More than 8 out of 10 need humanitarian aid as the WHO reports outbreaks of

• Cholera
• Dengue fever
• Drug-resistant Typhoid

Since January 2019 alone, health officials in Yemen have reported over 200,000 new cases of Cholera. As of October 2018, since 2016 there had been 1.2 million cases of Typhoid and are currently still facing an ongoing outbreak of Dengue Fever.
The numbers, don’t lie. Yemen is the current Hell on Earth.

Source

The world cannot continue to stand idly by, because while the civil war is between two different Yemeni perspectives, it is the US and Saudi forces that played a significant role in this mass starvation — touching both the Obama administration as well as the current Trump administration. So let’s make no mistake that the US can be considered to be complicit in this mass genocide.

How is the world still silent? How are we still silent?

May 18, 2019October 27, 2019 by Matthew Sciriha

49 days later… yeah! Rocketman is bouncing on the button again.

Image Sources: Sky News

I’ve been metaphorically holding my breath.

….but they couldn’t even keep it together for two months, so …

So a lot of people are surprised Trump was the one that didn’t do something silly, but Kim claims he did. Kim was hurt by the fact that Trump, wait for it, got friendly with other dictators.

Source

As funny as it sounds, the implications are serious. North Korea is reported to have tested a new InterContinental Ballistic Missile, or ICBM, despite agreeing to stop all missile tests and nuclear programme. The question now is, how many strong-arm tactics are going to be employed to try and rein Kim in. The fact that lines of communication are at their best means that there could be a chance for discourse to succeed. To be fair though, it is not the first time that a North Korean dictator pulls a fast one on an American President. Recently Kim Jong Un sent a letter to President Trump and did, in fact, stick to a part of the agreement which was to return the remains of American Soldiers from the Korean War.  The fact that a part of the agreement was respected is a step forward. Is it enough though?

Truth be told, returning the remains is purely a gesture of goodwill albeit one that wouldn’t come at a cost to Kim. President Trump thanked for returning these as it would be a relief for the families, that their loved ones remain’s, are back on their native soil; and it means he gets their support and vote in 2020.

So what’s gonna happen next? 

Well, you can expect the strong-arm tactics to come back into play. This time, however, there is a wild card. Since the lines of communication have become more accessible, it would be very easy for one side to engage the other in a more informal conversation. What some are afraid of is that one side will say something wrong, then so does the other and the whole thing escalates too rapidly to contain. 

They expected this at the summit, but in the hours that they were together, Trump and Kim were on their best behaviour. But this is like a first date, everybody acts right, as time goes on though someone relaxes and the truth slowly gets revealed.  What is ironic, is that one of the leaders that Trump met, which made Kim angry was President Putin. All the while, Moscow continues to issue new permits for North Korean workers which is a breach of the sanctions, despite the Russian representatives having in the past agreed that sanctions have to be enforced. Yes, you read that right… 

 

And what will these Strong arm tactics be? Well, the truth is, Trump is using heavy-handed boardroom tactics so far. However, Trump has a reputation for seeing through what he says he’ll do and he we’ve seen that in the actions that were ordered in Syria. 

The question therefore is, will Trump order military action against North Korea? 

August 5, 2018May 4, 2019 by Matthew Sciriha

Can you name a modern fascist group?……ANTIFA.

Nowadays, a very quick and easy response to conservatives is the label: “Fascist!”

But where does it come from?

Now most people would automatically think of WWII and the Nazis….wrong

Some will actually say it’s from the Italian word fascismo, referring to the political movement spearheaded by Benito Mussolini…..close….but still wrong.

I say close because it did originate in Italy(not Germany) and was conceptualized by one Giovanni Gentile.

Source

 The man was the self-styled “Philosopher of Fascism” and was essential in creating the foundation of fascism.

Well, Giovanni’s philosophical mentor and inspiration was none other than Karl Marx. In his writings about fascism, Gentile explained how he believed that the entire community was at the service of the state because the state was the community. Sound familiar? Hold that thought.

 

 

Fun Fact about fascism: It’s a form of Government, not a political alignment.

The Nazi party was an ultra-nationalist party that used fascism to function.

So what exactly is Fascism? Fascism is a form of government that most noticeably uses the forcible suppression of opposition and control of media, industry, and commerce. 

Notice how no mention of political alignment is mentioned there. That’s because the opposite of Fascism is not communism, but rather libertarian.

Neither a socialist or a nationalist must exclusively be a fascist.

Now ANTIFA is short for Anti Fascist. Ironic that their methods are exactly like those of those they hate. ANTIFA is a self-proclaimed left-wing group that feels that they can use any means necessary to crush whoever they feel is part of, or in support of Neo-Nazism and far-right groups. While that doesn’t sound too bad, they really do mean, any means necessary.

The real problem is, they very often award the label of fascist, to anyone who disagrees with them. This is where that previously mention, any means necessary, happens. It always involves yelling and very often if there are enough members, they will surround the person. From a bird’s eye view,  it probably looks like the exact definition of a mob. There have even been serious reports of extremely violent crimes committed by ANTIFA members.

ANTIFA has been known to also start riots that commit violence by targeting anything they consider to be commercially owned, be it businesses, property or cars.

Their idea is that a community has a right to defend itself against anything it considers a threat, even if it is an idea. Freedom of speech is acceptable as long as it conforms to their socio-political ideology. Otherwise, that freedom is drowned out by the noise of being labelled and branded.

Source

It’s ironic isn’t it, those who wish to preserve freedom of speech and freedom of expression are quick to crush the speech and expression that doesn’t agree with theirs.

The truth is if one fine day somebody could actually hand over everything this group demands, the hoped-for result of an absolute balance, would turn out to be a one-way ticket to anarchy(no stops and no turnarounds).

….and where are we today?

It is true, the numbers of this violent group are dwindling. But certain left-wing politicians, are working quite hard to push certain parts of the establishment the wrong way.  Just like what happened recently in Portland, Oregon. In a violent clash between Antifa and a free-speech group(who some, have claimed are a far-right group), it was noted that police seemed uninterested in the Antifa rioters and seemed to focus on their opponents.

Many have pointed out online that Portland’s mayor has quite the reputation for being quite the hardcore left winger who prefers to turn a blind eye to Antifa as they are self-proclaimed left-wingers too. I believe this just goes to show, that while the left, makes accusations of corruption, they also make use of …the end justifies the means… attitude also. 

When a cause is pushed without prudence at the helm, it’s bound to fall into the same traps as it’s failed, predecessors.

July 26, 2018May 22, 2019 by Matthew Sciriha

Gender quotas… Well-intentioned, but illogical.

“Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.” 

                                                                                       ― T.S. Eliot

When a progressive idea has to be enforced by the rule of law, you have a clear indication that you are faced with a destructive communal problem.

…and that’s exactly what imposed gender quotas are. 

While I’m all for equal opportunity, I don’t think that gender quotas are. I will be the first person to say that anyone can try to achieve a dream or goal and I would be the first to applaud it…but this is about choosing the best person for the job.

When it comes to performance in a career, a regular job or even trying to gain recognition for your passion; people expect a lot. It’s that simple… Some people scream that’s not fair, but I think that it is. Anyone can at the very least endeavor, to take on a task with the right combination of guidance, experience and hard work (and let’s be honest a good bit of luck at the right time), anyone can achieve any realistic goal they pursue. 

Sometimes, this leads to certain imbalances in certain work environments and this is to be expected. Society itself chooses its preferred opinion on various matters..much like politics. This is reflected also in various industry studies where men were more likely to choose certain career paths than women while women themselves held dominion over other industries.

Has this been affected differently across various cultures?

Of course.

Does that mean we can enforce a U-turn? 

Absolutely not.

So what can we do?

Well, the thing is this… 

Let’s think of a job(or whatever requirement for some sort of earning) environment. Now let’s think of the team. If you want your team to win, then you need the right teammates. Anyone who has the capacity for rational thought and/or is leading a team understands that the package in which the right teammate comes in; is irrelevant…it’s the performance that counts.

It’s also important to point out that in reality, you can in the interest of equality quotas even continue to subdivide people into so many more groups that it is a short and fast shortcut to ridiculous. Instead of trying to impose a quota, the positive attitude towards working towards a dream needs to be taught from an early age onward. 

I’m not talking about unrealistic expectations here, but if people can be instilled with the courage to attempt regular baby steps towards achieving a goal…then society will start to experience many more winners, a lot fewer whiners. 

 

May 16, 2018October 6, 2019 by Matthew Sciriha

Where in the world is burning? : ART. 02

 

Some claim that Kim will go back on his deal…

Here is something to think about however…you know the fact that they might bury the hatchet, actually means the hatchet has to go somewhere else.

What am I talking about?

Image source

The USA has about 23,000 soldiers in South Korea, probably some more in nearby countries too. Now let’s say that all of those soldiers, who are standing at the ready to push back an evil invader; suddenly have no one to protect against.

What are they gonna do? Send them home?….

With tension’s rising in Syria, the US will get more troops involved. Now I know he said he will get them out. Well if he is pulled into a conflict, he certainly won’t.

Syria isn’t the only problem though. Today there was another suicide attack in Kabul, journalists, and civilians the target as terrorists carried out horrific attacks. 

This wasn’t your average terrorist attack either… this plan was carried out with real malicious intent.

On Monday, a terrorist detonated a suicide vest, killing and injuring various people. If this wasn’t terrible enough, it gets worse. A second terrorist watched on, then pretended to be a journalist so that when other nearby journalists and civilians would rush over; he could detonate a second suicide vest and continue to injure and kill even more journalists. I have to be honest, I think both terrorists were sick people; the second had to have certain kind of malice though, to be able to watch one person kill themselves and enough people to cause more people to rush over and use it as a way to draw them in to kill more of them… That’s not human.

The rest of the world watches as Syria continues to be eradicated by a civil war(that involves 8 different parties). 

Support for the Syrian Ba’athist government

• Russia
• Iran
• Hezbollah
• Iraq
• Companies

Support for Syrian opposition

• United States
• United Kingdom
• France
• Turkey
• Arab League
• Support from non-state groups

The thing is this, every one of those countries has a goal, but that doesn’t mean that their goals are also supporting what their compatriots support.

This is why the situation continues to worsen and why governments need to step up their game. The entire middle east has become a problem that is not limited to the middle east but is being suffered by everyone. 

Some are even arguing that rather the rest of the world step in to set them straight, in future we should simply hang back and “let them settle it amongst themselves”. What do you think?

So that’s what has been going on, tune in next month for another perusal of problems faced by the egomaniacs we call world leaders.

 

April 30, 2018July 14, 2018 by Matthew Sciriha

They nominated him for what?!…. ….Would you give it to him?

 

Absolutely not. This is where I draw the line. Personally, I think there is no way that Trump would be awarded that award.

Obama got the 2009 award and many debates, even today if it was justified.

Why are they saying Trump should get it?

Since North and South Korea shook hands and declared; that they had started the journey of peace and to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula, the Republicans are already hailing that Trump’s initial pressure and then quick U-turn gamble in accepting North Korea’s invitation was a remarkable albeit risky victory.  

Trump hasn’t even met Kim yet, but Fox News is already repeating the words “De-Nuke”.  

http://video.foxnews.com/v/embed.js?id=5777945735001&w=466&h=263 Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

But he isn’t going to get a prize. Should the meeting happen; he will portray it as a success over the failings of his predecessors. A success which will help him in his campaign for re-election but no more than that.

What’s are the real reason Trump won’t get it.

Well, one possibility is that it would be a PR issue that they wouldn’t recover from. Just imagine. People boycotting the Nobel Prize because they awarded it to Trump. The prestige of the various parties involved in choosing Trump would be tarnished in the eyes of too many. 

So will they take that risk?….No

The result is, of course, is that many people who support him display their outrage. 

Societies are constantly becoming more polarised and divisive despite calls for co-operation. Due to this, I think that it’s safe to say that just like the USA, a lot of westernized countries will soon follow the same road and this will mean a sudden rise in conservatism.  I don’t think the wave will spill over into a hard right perspective but it will need to be watched and managed very carefully.

If the Democrats want to get back into the driver seat, then they are going to have to sit down and wait a bit. Trump will present a very difficult challenge in 2020 but after that will no longer be an issue. That’s their window. 

April 29, 2018July 27, 2018 by Matthew Sciriha

Trump is going for gold.

 

Trump’s ticket to his second term is within his reach, as North Korean dictator Kim Jung-un declares the country will be halting nuclear/ ICBM tests.

Trump quickly followed up this news with the following tweet:

North Korea has agreed to suspend all Nuclear Tests and close up a major test site. This is very good news for North Korea and the World – big progress! Look forward to our Summit.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2018

Bearing in mind that Trump said that this meeting is going to happen by end of May, I would say he is pretty much at the finish line.

To be honest, no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall under; not supporting this would have to be the dumbest you could do this year. I’m not a fan of Trump but a successful summit with North Korea has so many positive possibilities that I believe nobody could fault.

Consider the humanitarian effort:

It’s no secret that there is a large percentage of the population living in abysmal conditions. Peace talks could start to alleviate their suffering and perhaps even allowing aid groups to go in and to help. Not to mention pushing to eliminate the three generational punishments. 

However…

Here’s a thought I had. There is a large presence of the US military within the vicinity of North Korea, to act as a deterrent should the dictator feel a little trigger happy.  But if peace is established and the majority of those military personnel leave ( I say majority because let’s face it, where the Americans land they never leave. ), then they have to go somewhere.

Question is where?….

Well there’s always the middle east…but something tells me they’ll go a bit north….( food for thought )

Back to the matter at hand though. Should Trump and Kim both make it to the meeting, then Trump would have a diplomatic victory that will boost his approval and guarantee his position for a second term as a US president.

Will populism over-power liberalism?

This is how populists rise, on the back of the nation by giving them exactly what they want. The US is in the current mindset as at the end of the 1970’s. The hippie movement was losing one of their core factors of their raison d’être and so are the hardcore liberal movements today.

Is this a mournful farewell to progress? I think quite the opposite. Should the progressive achievements now be given time to settle in as part our cultural norms, optimistically speaking; I think that we can look forward to a time where a lot of innovation and change will be going on as well as a lot of growth.

This, however, is not the sole responsibility of governments though, we the people must do our part in electing the right leaders. At the moment, I personally don’t like Trump; however, it would be wrong to say that he hasn’t done anything good.

So far, the good he has done is worth its merit and praise. So I’m personally already starting to say he will get his second term…I guess we’ll find out.

April 21, 2018July 18, 2018 by Matthew Sciriha

US, UK and France launch airstrikes on Syria….and Russia ain’t happy.

Sabres out and first blood has been drawn.

We have another war on our hands, and to be honest I’m not surprised. I mean let’s be honest, 

Trump…

….who needs a war for the American economy…you know their economy can’t survive without a good fight going on… So what’s happened here? While some people have said,

didn’t Trump want to get along with Putin? he said so during his presidential campaign…. he even congratulated Putin on his last electoral victory.

Yes, those are all true. I think the reason might be as follows:

While Trump had previously been going off on Twitter at the North Korean Dictator, their spiralling descent to chaos took a sudden U-turn when Trump accepted an invitation to meet with Kim Jung-un. The world was momentarily stunned.

Article on TRUMP meeting KIM JUNG-UN

Could it happen?!

Two of the biggest hotheads in the world.

 

Could they actually manage to blow off enough steam at each other, that they would be able to both sit at the table and cut the bullshit to sort it out? It might look that way. The reason being that Trump needs a war for his economy and with a chance for diplomatic victory for the history books…

…becoming the first US president to meet a leader of North Korea…

 Trump needs to point his barrel elsewhere.  Theresa May was conveniently having a big disagreement with Russia, so it was only too easy to shift the aim to Putin. Trump’s choice was simple, the ally they have a good history with or the country who they have been on difficult terms with and have a history of being enemies. Is his choice surprising? …No…

On to Theresa May?

Article on how Uk – Russian Ties don’t look good.

If she took Russia’s side on the Syria situation, all her credibility will be lost…the public sentiment being “what little credibility she has”… In a press conference, she tried to explain how they took a limited amount of action because the had a window of opportunity with a short time duration. Though the truth is that the UK is trying to send a message to Putin. The Russian Spy incident is, of course, a looming shadow over all the currently ongoing activity that might relate to the UK and Russia working side by side. The incident itself triggering a massive recall of diplomats to their respective countries, in and out of Russia. Many people felt a lot of concern as the ties continue to degrade.

What about Macron?

Well in case you didn’t know; before Macron entered a political career, he was an investment banker.

What does that spark in my head?

Image source.

The man is a businessman. He was affiliated prior to his presidency, with a social liberal political party. So what does Macron care about? Pushing his country to progress in a business-like manner; meaning it has to be semi-profitable to pump back into social efforts such as social benefits. ….At least that’s what I think…

So why the airstrike? Well, Macron might be a socialist liberal who believes in progressive multiculturalism but his business nature won’t let him sit by and watch his company(France), get attacked from within. The strike in Syria is simply a gateway to get more troops on the ground there and go after the heart of terrorism(or so they perhaps will say soon). Not to mention that with the UK approaching Brexit; that leaves Macron with a big problem, he made big promises about those still sitting in Calais but they will soon not be allowed to cross into English territory and will not leave him with the washed hands he wished for. So he has supported the UK to maintain better relations with them.

…Putin…

So after a lot of big talk … such as Moscow warning “actions will not be left without consequences” , nothing has actually happened. Many people finding it odd that Russia seems to have backed down. In public, they claim to be very angry and have called the strikes as an act of aggression but I think the Russian’s seem pretty relieved. 

The New York Times reported :

If anything, the Kremlin may have been somewhat pleased, albeit secretly, that the United States had hit targets well away from the primary areas of Russian control, one analyst suggested.

Image Source

In reality, I think Putin had to maintain a tone of aggression, so as to maintain his current level of influence and maintain his support for Assad. The reality is that the Russians have a powerful anti-missile defence system in Syria, but they didn’t even turn it on during the strikes.

In fact, they didn’t have to, because none of the targeted areas in the strike wherein Russian interest zones.

So where does it leave us? Putin has taken the peaceful route as he pushes for a UN council meeting and a summit with Trump.

 

 

Whatever the individual real goals may be, it will perhaps seem that this airstrike was simply the overture to the next act of the Syrian theatre of war.

April 15, 2018July 18, 2018 by Matthew Sciriha