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PRESIDENT Donald Trump could not have chosen two more ominous words "mission accomplished" to hail Friday's retaliatory attack on Syria for its chemical weapons attack on civilians. Either the president's grasp of history exceeded his intellectual reach, or he was deliberately mocking a previous commander-in-chief who immersed America in a debilitating Middle Eastern war with no clear objective.
Either way, Trump wound up mocking himself by invoking the phrase that became ironically famous after President George W Bush landed aboard a US aircraft carrier seven weeks after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. As Bush spoke in front of a large"Mission Accomplished" banner, Iraq was leaderless, looted and in flames. A year later, US forces became immersed in a ground war against Sunni and Shiite Muslim insurgents with no way out. Seven years later, the US casualty toll stood at more than 4,400 killed and nearly 32,000 wounded.
Trump has ordered two separate missile attacks in the past 53 weeks aimed at crippling Assad's ability to use chemical weapons against his own people. Photos show that the missiles destroyed several buildings, but beyond that, it's hard to say what the mission accomplished. Neither Assad nor his chief ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, seemed particularly humbled or stricken with fear.
Perhaps that's because they knew in advance what to expect. Jon Huntsman Jr, the US ambassador to Russia, stated on Facebook that"the US communicated with the RF (Russian Federation) to reduce the danger of any Russian or civilian casualties" in Friday's attack. A US president who had insisted he would not broadcast his intentions to the enemy did exactly that.
The administration has committed around 2,000 ground troops in Syria. Administration officials are all over the map about next steps. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says Trump still intends to withdraw those troops. The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said it wouldn't happen until the Islamic State is defeated, Syria stops deploying chemical weapons, and Iran's influence is held in check in the region.
Trump has not yet articulated plans to block Islamic State's resurgence, nor any vision for Syria. Does he support the ouster of Assad? If so, how does he plan to achieve it, and what type of government would he put in its place?
Islamic State forces have gone into hiding, most likely to fight another day in another place. It'll take a lot more than 2,000 US troops and two missile attacks to check Iran's influence across Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. And a halt to Syria's use of chemical weapons is no more assured today than it was a year ago.
The mission, then, could hardly be murkier or more confusing. If that's Trump's goal, mark it as accomplished.
