Syria Tweet Reminds Us: Trump is the Anti-Appeasement President

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

The bombings have commenced.  It's a limited strike, and a necessary move, as was Trump's tweet that missiles were coming that everyone was all up in arms about because, well, the decision hadn't been made, yet.

Kim Jong Un of North Korea is coming to the negotiation table because of Trump's tough talk and tough stance.

Remember the idea about peace through strength?  President Ronald Reagan pushed that same idea, as did George Washington.  It was Washington, after all, who said, "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”

Strength only works if you prove you are willing to back up your threats.

That kind of attitude has been working well for President Trump.  He took a strong stance on trade, and put into place tariffs against pretty much everyone's advise.  The result?

The politicians screamed that's not politics as usual, don't do it.  The globalists said not to do it, too, because it would hurt the global economy.

"Trade war is coming," they screamed.  They feared making China mad.

China has been waging a trade war with us for a long time, already.  Trump's tariffs, to be honest, have been a long time coming.

China has, for decades, engaged in a one-sided “trade war” with the United States that doesn’t involve tariffs but wide-spread and wide-scale theft of intellectual property.

Were we ever planning to respond?

I like free trade, but I don't agree with stupid trade.  Trump's tariffs levels the playing field when it comes to international trade.  What were they going to do?  The United States is the largest consumer in the world.

They grumbled, and they complained, but in the end, the tariffs have turned out to be a very good move.

A strong move.

I suppose appeasement is the Democrat way to go.  It seems to be the Republican way to go, too.  It's like standing in the schoolyard, allowing the bully to beat on you because you've been taught by the appeasers not to fight, and to settle for participation trophies.

Sometimes, it's necessary to fight back.  Sometimes, strength is necessary to knock the bully off his feet, and teach him a quick lesson.

Trump understands the necessity for strength.  Appeasement is not the Trump way to go.

Now, Trump is getting tough with Syria after a chemical attack by Assad against his own people . . . and the freaks are pissed.  Didn't Obama hit Syria in response to a similar attack, and then applauded him for it?

While Assad is being blamed for the chemical attack, it is not completely out of the realm of possibility that it may have been the rebels (of whom Obama was arming).  Some of the anti-war activists are claiming the claim of a chemical attack is fake news, and a false flag.  Russia says the British did it.

You know how conspiracy theories are.  While sometimes there may be a little bit of truth in them, they are usually designed to fit an agenda, help an agenda, and maintain an agenda.

As for the question about Obama's strike against Syria being applauded, and Trump being slammed for it, I suppose the difference is that Trump tweeted about it before it happened.  It couldn't be because the leftist media hates everything that Trump does, even if they were applauding Obama for the same thing, could it?

Swinging a big stick worked with North Korea.

Some folks have hammered Trump because they thought he was the non-interventionalist president when he was elected.  Trump, after all, questioned the moves of Bush and Obama in the Middle East.

It's amazing what happens when you sit down in the Oval Office and learn what you could only know as President of the United States.  Knowing what he now knows, Trump has apparently realized that a military response, at the moment, is the only option available.

What is interesting to me about the Syria attack is that it is essentially a face-off moment against Putin of Russia . . . wait, I thought the Democrats say that Trump is Putin's puppet.  If that's so, why would Trump move against Russia's buddies in Syria?

The airstrikes in Syria are not a travesty as being reported.  It's brilliant. It's a reminder of who the United States is.  We are liberators, and we are willing to fight for liberty when necessary.  We are not appeasers . . . well, unless the Democrats are in charge.

It was appeasers who gave Hitler Czechoslovakia prior to World War II.  It was the appeasers who allowed the Cold War to escalate.  It was the appeasers who did nothing when Americans were held hostage in Iran in 1979.  It was appeasers who allowed Russia to take Crimea and attack Ukraine.  And it has been appeasers who have been looking the other way as Islam has invaded the West and waged war on us through terrorism.

Peace through strength has to be accompanied by a show of strength.  That's just a reality.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary