'Russiagate' could lead to WWIII

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Seems like a game of brinkmanship right now. Nuclear war might be interesting.

President Trump warned Wednesday that U.S. airstrikes on Syria “will be coming” in retaliation for a suspected chemical attack, although he did not say when, and he taunted Syrian ally Russia for a pledge to shoot down American missiles.

Both the United States and Russia escalated a war of words over claims of indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Syria, raising the possibility of open military conflict between the old Cold War adversaries.

“Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to missile strikes that have appeared likely since the weekend deaths of more than 40 Syrian civilians, including children.

It was the first explicit U.S. statement that a military response is in the offing, and it marked a turnabout for a president who ridiculed his predecessor, Barack Obama, for allegedly telegraphing military strategy.

“You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” Trump wrote, in one of his most direct criticisms of Moscow.

U.S. officials, while stressing that planning for airstrikes has been careful and orderly, and has involved diplomatic and intelligence agencies as well as the Pentagon, said Trump’s direct threat Wednesday took government officials by surprise. Trump’s description of “smart” weaponry appeared to flow at least partly from briefings Monday and Tuesday that included options involving guided missiles, a senior U.S. official said.

The official requested anonymity because the U.S. plan is not final.

Russian President Vladi­mir Putin did not directly respond to Trump’s threats when he appeared at the Kremlin several hours later, at a ceremony welcoming new foreign ambassadors to Moscow. But he told the assembled diplomats that “the state of things in the world cannot but provoke concern.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia did not plan to respond in kind to Trump’s tweeted taunt.

“We do not participate in Twitter diplomacy,” Peskov said, according to Russian news reports. “We are supporters of serious approaches. We continue to believe that it is important not to take steps that could harm an already fragile situation.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that a missile strike could undermine the work of international inspectors who will examine the site of the suspected chemical attack.

“Smart missiles should be fired at terrorists and not at the legitimate government which has been fighting terrorists,” Zakharova wrote on Facebook. “Or is the trick to destroy all the traces with a smart missile strike and then there will be no evidence for international inspectors to look for?”

Trump appeared to be referring to a comment from Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon, who was quoted by a Lebanese news outlet Tuesday as saying that Russia would confront a U.S. strike on Syria by shooting down missiles and striking their launchpads or points of origin.

The missiles most likely to be used in a U.S. attack would probably be launched from U.S. warships, opening the possibility that the Russian diplomat was threatening open warfare.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was at the White House on Wednesday afternoon for meetings expected to focus on Syria. Beforehand, he was asked whether he has seen sufficient evidence to blame the Assad government for the attack.

“We’re still assessing the intelligence, ourselves and our allies,” Mattis replied.

“We stand ready to provide military options if they are appropriate, as the president determined.”

Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, has said the military would hit back if U.S. airstrikes endangered Russian servicemen in Syria.

“Regarding the question of what will happen in the event of this or that strike, one still wants to hope that all sides will avoid steps that (a) are not provoked by anything in reality and (b) could significantly destabilize the already fragile situation in the region,” Peskov said Wednesday.

Vladimir Shamanov, chairman of the defense committee of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, said Russia is in contact with the Pentagon and NATO about the situation in Syria, according to Russian news reports.

“Everybody can live peacefully and accomplish their objectives, because the state agencies of military, diplomatic and political administrative bodies are working around the clock for the third day in a row,” Shamanov said in an interview on the Rossiya 1 network.

Meanwhile, a top Russian military official said Russian military police would enter Douma on Friday. He continued to dispute U.S. claims that a chemical attack took place in the town.

Now China's navy is on the way to Syria. The Russian military is ready and waiting. The US has been warned not to strike. Trump can't back down now because all of the Russian puppet GARBAGE. If a strike goes wrong, literally anything could happen. Trump was elected saying he was against the rebels in Syria. 'Moderate rebels' if you believe complete joke media outlets like CNN and the BBC. So moderate that they chopped off a Priest's head with a kitchen knife. Ate a Syrian soldier's heart. They are Al Qaeda and ISIS.

The source for the "gas attack" in Syria is the Oscar winning White Helmets. The leader wasn't allowed into the US to collect his award as he is a "security threat". And like Assad would gas children when he's pretty much won the war. This is the doing of the evil psycho war mongers that have been pushing the Russian puppet tripe for nearly two years. Their beloved 'moderate rebels' carried this attack out, then put on their hats and filmed the children. The US had war ships with missiles on, ready in the Mediterranean weeks ago.

This is utterly sickening. Our politicians want to help the same group in Syria, that was involved in 9/11!! ! Same Jihadists that have burned people alive in cages. If Trump goes through with this then Hillary might as well have won the election.

Just think about that.

WWIII probably isn't going to happen yet. While Putin is a conniving, manipulative spymaster who plays chess on a world map, one thing he isn't is a self-immolating lunatic prepared to turn the earth into his funeral pyre.

You think all of these as*hole are sending ships & planes over there right now that they don't intend to use? It's all but a foregone conclusion that these lunatics are about to start a (much bigger) war.

I think this is right now a dick measuring contest. Perhaps Trump's lost his fear over that pee tape being released. That said, I think cooler heads in the military and intelligence agencies on both sides would intervene if things escalated too close to the big one being dropped.

Please define "Russiagate". If it merely refers to the possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, why would that lead to WWIII?

I think this is right now a dick measuring contest. Perhaps Trump's lost his fear over that pee tape being released. That said, I think cooler heads in the military and intelligence agencies on both sides would intervene if things escalated too close to the big one being dropped.