“If Assad is willing to use sarin gas against his own people, he’s probably willing to use it against Americans.” — @marcorubio pic.twitter.com/AUUAk1bFbO
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) April 7, 2017
Much to the surprise of many, the White House authorized a missile strike on a Syrian airfield in response to the use of chemical weapons on its own civilians. GOP Senator Marco Rubio, who has been openly critical of the Trump administration and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on how it handles Syria, is now concerned that American troops might be next.
In the CBS News clip above, Rubio states that there are hundreds of American troops in Syria, working in the region as military advisers, mostly sent to the region to deal with elements of ISIS. He believes that these troops are now potentially exposed to retaliatory attacks with chemical weapons.
While possible, this would be unlikely in the extreme. Chemical weapons are banned under the Geneva Convention, which Syria has signed, and is already in violation of by using those weapons on its own civilians. Attacking U.S. troops with chemical weapons would essentially hand the U.S. license to take more decisive military action while alienating any allies Syria has left, although just what form that would take is unclear. It would also likely anger Assad’s allies in Russia and draw more attention to where, precisely, Assad secured chemical weapons his government shouldn’t have owned and was unlikely to be able to manufacture clandestinely in the first place. So while Rubio is technically correct, the political realities make it unlikely.
(via CBS News)