© Khalil Ashawi / Reuters

Washington's threats to take military action to deter a Syrian assault on Al-Qaeda-held Idlib province has prompted Fox News host Tucker Carlson to ask the obvious question:Carlson marveled at how 17 years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the US was now using its military might to shield - rather than eradicate - Al-Qaeda."More than 10,000 rebels in that province are believed to be aligned with Al-Qaeda. So that would mean thatCarlson asked.His sentiments echo a similar observation made by Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who marked the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by pointing out the troubling double standard on display by the Trump administration."While President Trump & VP Pence give 9/11 speeches about how much they care about the victims of al-Qaeda's attack on our country, they are simultaneously acting as protectors of AQ in Syria/Idlib, threatening Russia and Syria that if they attack al-Qaeda, we will punish them," Gabbard tweeted."I'll never reconcile how the biggest post-9/11 hawks turned into the biggest boosters of the jihad in Syria," professor Max Abrahms noted in his own tweet marking the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.