Secretary of Defense James Mattis stated on or about February 2nd, 2018 that the United States has “no evidence” that the Syrian government used the banned nerve agent Sarin against its own people in attacks in 2013 and 2017.
The most recent accusation provoked a massive Tomahawk strike ordered by President Trump that was quite provocative in the eyes of the Russian Federation and of course the Syrian government.
As TheDuran's Seraphim Hanish details, Secretary Mattis’ assertion is in direct contradiction to the White House Memorandum which was rapidly written and declassified to justify the Americans’ strike.
However, the Secretary offered no specifics to his statement. He did discuss the fact that there were aid groups and other people, including NGOs and other fighters operating in the area that had provided evidence and reports of what happened with the Sarin strike. Their information stopped short of naming President Assad as the culprit.
“I don’t have the evidence,” Mattis said. “What I am saying is that other groups on the ground – NGOs, fighters on the ground – have said that sarin has been used, so we are looking for evidence.”
The reporting on this is highly suspect, though. Newsweek, Reuters and the Washington Post are three American publications that all have run pieces pointing out this contradictory matter. At this time, FoxNews has nothing on its site about this matter, but ZeroHedge does.
General “Mad Dog” Mattis, is known for an uncompromising approach to dealing with America’s enemies:
Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.
He was an outspoken critic of President Obama’s Middle East policy, naming Iran as the single most serious threat to stability in the region. By all accounts, then, the General is faithful to the idea that projecting American power abroad is a good thing.
Seen with this context, the general’s statement seems unusual, and the media outlets that have a less than favorable view of Donald Trump as the American President have been quick to jump on board the train to point out that the General disagrees with his CO, the President.
Sadly, if this issue is able to gain traction, it is only going to do so as long as it serves the media’s narrative that President Trump is crazy or stupid, and should not be trusted with the leadership of the nation. No doubt this will be spun as 25th amendment material, since the President “could in a moment of passion, decide to nuke someone.”
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