The inflamed rhetoric of the Trump justification for bombing Syria
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The inflamed rhetoric of the Trump justification for bombing Syria

ByJosh Bernoff

President Trump, outraged by the use of nerve gas on civilians, launched 59 cruise missiles at the airfield that Bashar al-Assad uses in Syria. Then he made a statement justifying the action. It’s a case study in Trumpspeak — does the pileup in intensifying adjectives and adverbs make a statement more persuasive, or more suspect? In my…

Trump statement on Syria chemical weapons: blame but no solutions

Trump statement on Syria chemical weapons: blame but no solutions

ByJosh Bernoff

Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad apparently used nerve gas in the Syrian war, killing civilians. The situation there remains impossible. Trump’s blame-filled statement can’t change that. The six-year multilateral conflict in Syria features a murderous dictator backed by Russia, Islamic State terrorists, and “moderate” rebel factions backed by the U.S. — with civilians caught in the middle. It…