Personally, I’m on the fence about last night’s strike against Syria’s Shayrat Airfield.
I do feel that something needed to be done about Bashar al-Assad’s vicious gas attack on his own people. I’m human. I’m also a mom, and those pictures of Syrian children either dead already or fighting for air were just too horrible to fathom.
On the other hand, however, my concerns surround center on whether this was the right time to make such a strike? What will be the long-term consequences?
Ambassador Nikki Haley had just made a powerful statement before the United Nations about Tuesday’s gas attack.
Should we have waited a few days more, given others on the U.N. Security Council more time to respond?
Needless to say, I’m glad I’m not the one who had to make that decision.
Today, on “Fox & Friends” Senator Marco Rubio stepped up to defend the decision to hit the airfield, as social media is burning hot with opposing opinions on the need for the strike.
“We don’t have 535 commanders-in-chief,” Rubio said on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.” “We have one. That’s his role as commander-in-chief to protect our national security interests.”
“Not only was what he did legal, it was appropriate,” the 2016 GOP presidential candidate added. “And he acted decisively, which is one of the most important things a president has to be willing to do.”
Like I said, I’m glad I’m not the one making that decision.
Rubio further made a good point, in regards to those who have pointed out Trump’s past tweets, aimed at President Obama and the notion that he would move against Assad in Syria.
Trump, before becoming president, himself, discouraged Obama from getting entangled in the civil war in Syria.
Rubio scolded Trump’s detractors for highlighting past tweets showing the billionaire opposed military action in Syria before his presidency.
“There’s a difference between being a real estate developer in New York and a private citizen and being the president,” he said. “When you’re the president the weight is on your shoulders.”
And he is not wrong.
None of us, from the comfort of our homes, seeing all this play out through the filter of 24-hour cable news, or through the social media accounts of fellow politicos can know the full weight of the decision, or the preparation before authorizing the move.
We can debate the necessity or prudence until the cows come home – and we likely will – but it’s done now, and the next moves by everyone involved should be watched closely.
.@marcorubio responds to lawmakers pushing back against #SyriaStrikes: "We don't have 535 commander-in-chiefs. We have one." pic.twitter.com/aRcYsoQzao
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) April 7, 2017
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