At least 40 people are reported dead in Syria after a poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near the capital. The State Department said the reports, if confirmed, would demand "an immediate response."
President Trump set the stage for a response on Twitter.
President Trump is referring to President Obama's infamous "red line in the sand" comments - Obama said the use of chemical weapons by Syrian forces would be crossing a "red line" requiring American military intervention. But that never happened. See Obama's comments below.
Obama's inaction - after threatening action - is considered a diasatrous moment for American foreign policy.
Obama's faint-hearted failure at the red line helped unleash the immigration crisis in Europe, emboldened the Russians in their quest to re-establish their power around the world, and has left open the greater possibility of terrorists getting their hands on chemical weapons.
To be fair, the American s are reluctant to see military intervention in such matters and Congress was unenthusiastic as a result. But Obama's failure to follow up on this threat had consequences.
Obama quietly backed down from his threat and punted the solution to the Russians, who were all-too-willing to flex their power-brokering influence in the Middle East.
This is why I roll my eyes when liberals today scream at me about the evil Russians. Liberals ignore that the Obama Administration downplayed their threat...laughing at those who defined them as formidable foes as cold war warriors who couldn't give up the past.
So what should the TRUMP response be? He has ordered a cruise missile strike against a Syrian air base previously. Even that limited action ratchets up the tension with the Russians - though I don't think President Trump's military advisors care about that.
The REAL question is: what will the American people support?