It was unilateral, done without Congressional approval and without consultation with the UN. Trump wouldn't be the first US president to do this. Obama did it with Libya and so has practically every president since WWII. However, according to the constitution, a president is supposed to get approval from Congress which has the responsibility of declaring war. The US has not declared war since 1941, yet has been in numerous armed conflicts. With this particular president, who has stated "America First" as a mantra and decried American involvement in global affairs, the 180 turn-around seemed impulsive...like he just saw some bad pictures on TV and decided to bomb Syria. I'm not sure if it was justified or not, because a proper multi-lateral investigation hasn't been done as to exactly who dropped the chemical weapon. It's just one side, the US, saying they know Syria dropped the chemical weapon and they know which base it came from. Dropping chemical weapons is definitely a bad thing which definitely deserves a response, but I feel like Trump should have waited for a lot of things...like Congressional approval, international cooperation following an international investigation. To think a one-off dropping of cruise missiles will solve the problem is naive. This will likely be a long-term affair, and as such, should have been prepared for better...especially considering Russia is on the ground there.
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