The United States has two national security interests in punishing Syrian President Bashar Assad’s use of chemical weapons. First, it wants to deter the global use of weapons of mass destruction. Second, it wants to ensure the credibility of America’s word.
That matters anew in light of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement on Thursday that the U.S. has concluded Assad again used chemical weapons in an attack in May. As in 2018 and 2017, the U.S. must again respond militarily. To do otherwise would be to invite the global conclusion that America’s word is meaningless.
As before, the evidence against Assad is clear. But while this attack is entirely unsurprising, we must not take it as a sad reality of war. President Trump rightly laid down a red line against Assad’s use of chemical weapons, and Assad has repeatedly used those weapons against his people. The appropriate response is air strikes against those regime forces responsible for launching these attacks and against the infrastructure used to support them.
Some will say this is warmongering. They’ll point out that no one was killed in the May attack. They might point out Assad and Russia’s far more destructive air campaign against civilian medical centers. But these complaints miss the point.
The key point here is that the U.S. has a responsibility to ensure that allies and enemies alike are aware that America will act in conformity with its word. Failing that, those nations will be emboldened to roll the dice against America. Considering China’s endeavor to steal the South China Sea, Russia’s effort to fragment and weaken NATO, and Iran’s continuing escalation in the Persian Gulf, this understanding is not one that Trump can afford.
Assad has forced the president’s hand. He must act decisively.
