Democrats and Republicans have converged to almost unanimously support further military intervention in Syria, even though the culpability of the chemical attacks has not been fully proven and the prospect of an independent investigation seems superfluous.

Was the strike intended to placate US President Donald Trump’s political enemies in Washington?

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern replied succinctly: "My theory is that as Alice and Wonderland remarked: ‘I don’t want to live here among mad people,’ [said Alice]… ‘You can’t help that,’ said the cat, ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad, you’re mad … How do you know I’m mad?’ asked Alice… ‘You must be,’ said the cat, or ‘you wouldn’t have come here.’"

​"There’s something in the water here in Washington," McGovern hypothesized.

"People have gone mad here," he reiterated. If conscientious objectors would put their bodies on the line to end Washington’s madness, to borrow McGovern’s phraseology, "there aren’t enough jails here in Washington to hold all of us who could see what’s going on."

Let’s talk about "borderline insanity," McGovern said. Specifically, Trump’s defense secretary, James Mattis, who has earned the nickname ‘Mad Dog.’ He’s said to be an avid reader of Greek poetry, but also "talks about how much fun it is shooting people … on the record."

"I think it's the Mattises and the military industrial types that have forced Trump’s hand here. After all, when we talk about poor children that have been killed or severely injured … if they’re not on US TV, they don’t matter do they? … He sees them on US TV and his hand is somehow forced."