The media and political establishment have been waiting far too long for this moment to arrive.

The U.S. will finally stand on the moral high ground and denounce Assad.



With bipartisan and bicameral agreement, Congress added to it the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, which authorizes sanctions on top Syrian government officials, military leaders and anyone else responsible for more than eight years of Assad’s mass atrocities, war crimes against innocent civilians and crimes against humanity. The bill also would extend sanctions to several major sectors of Syria’s state-driven economy and to any government or private entity that aids Syria’s military or contributes to the reconstruction of Syria — until there’s accountability and justice for Assad’s victims.

Don't get me wrong. Assad is a brutal dictator, and he did commit war crimes. That almost always happens in a civil war, so denying it would be naive.

That being said, it still looks like the pot calling the kettle black.



The coalition's Al-Jazeera Storm operation resulted in a high number of civilian casualties, including in a series of attacks on January 3 in Sha'fah, south of Hajin, that killed 16 civilians including 12 children, the UN report said. "Launching indiscriminate attacks that result in death or injury to civilians amounts to a war crime in cases in which such attacks are conducted recklessly," it said.

That was from just a few months ago. Something tells me that Congress won't wait until there’s accountability and justice for our victims.

Speaking of Congress, they were recently outraged - outraged I say - by war crimes from Turkish forces.



A bipartisan group of lawmakers is demanding answers about Turkey’s role in the reported use of munitions loaded with white phosphorus—a chemical that can maim and kill when it comes in contact with human flesh—against civilians in northeastern Syria. Four U.S. senators are pressing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to address reports that Turkish-backed forces have used white phosphorus-loaded munitions in the Turkish offensive into northeastern Syria. The allegations were first reported by Foreign Policy and substantiated by multiple other outlets.

...

The use of white phosphorus in military applications is not banned, but its use as an incendiary weapon in civilian areas is prohibited by international law.

White phosphorus on civilians! What kind of monsters would do such a thing?

The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria appears to have used white phosphorus-loaded munitions on at least two occasions in densely populated areas of Mosul and in the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa, according to videos posted online and human rights groups. The often-controversial munitions are common in western militaries and are used primarily to create smoke screens, though they can also be dropped as an incendiary weapon.

When Turkey used white phosphorus on civilians it was a war crime.

When we used white phosphorus on civilians it was "often-controversial munitions" that are "common in western militaries".

And note that these events were entirely separate from the war crimes we committed in the recent U.N. report.

Speaking of Turkey, Congress is about to smack them down and good.



Turkey could shut down its Incirlik airbase that hosts US nuclear warheads in response to threats of US sanctions, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned. "If it is necessary for us to take such a step, of course, we have the authority... We will close down Incirlik if necessary," Erdogan said on A Haber TV on Sunday.

We certainly showed them...by forcing them to kick us out of the country.

Interestingly, another "ally", the UAE, is cheering us on.

Lastly, let's not forget Iraq, where this headline should bring back fond memories for those McResistance Democrats.