Where Do We Go From Here?

Pres. Trump has gone rogue on Russia's Pres.Vladimir Putin. This morning's headlines screamed over the top of my coffee cup, that Russia condemned the U. S. missile strikes on Syria's government airbases. Russia says that as a result of this action, it is suspending the 2015 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between our country and Russia.

I am glad that Pres. Trump has the heart to feel outrage at the murder of innocent babies and children in Syria and ire at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But, there is more to it all, than a rashly planned and executed attack against the heinous atrocities and villainous dictator, to consider. I hope that Pres. Trump has not engaged America, in a self-damning calamity "of-biblical-proportions."

The crux of the problem lies within Trump's sole decision, without consultation/consent of Congress to engage U. S. military forces in a military 1st. strike against Syria. The second problem, is not obtaining the needed agreement, from a coalition/consensus of participating allies around the world, to deal a blow to Syria's military capabilities to stop the genocide.

It would appear that Putin's plan to hack U. S. elections, trying to influence our election outcome by swaying the favor of American voters to Trump, for their own gratification, has back-fired on them.

I sure hope that Pres. Trump has a backup plan in place, about how to contain any negative escalation with Russia over his actions against Syria. It is doubtful, that anyone else would not think that Assad should be removed from his position. However, the question remains, "Is there a solid military plan in place?" and "Has it been thoroughly studied to ensure a smooth implementation without any additional muddied international waters and collateral damage to innocent civilians?" Is there a well-thought out exit strategy?

Where do we go from here?

**************************************************************************************************************************

U. S. Department of Defense

U.S. and Russia Want To Sign Memorandum on Air Safety in Syria

By Lisa Ferdinando

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2015 — Senior U.S. and Russian defense officials signed a memorandum of understanding today on air safety in Syria, the Pentagon's press secretary said.

The memorandum of understanding, or MOU, is aimed at minimizing the risk of inflight incidents among coalition and Russian aircraft operating in Syrian airspace, Peter Cook said at a Pentagon's news conference.

The MOU went into effect with today's signing, he said.

Cook said the MOU includes specific safety protocols for aircrews to follow, including maintaining professional airmanship at all times, the use of specific communication frequencies and the establishment of a communication line on the ground.