[Skybird]

The West, namely the US, did start to confront IS all over the place, not just Syria, since IS was conquering territories in severla different countries. Syria was just one of them.

IS is just a strawman aregument for the Russians to stay in Syria. If IS would not be there, then another strawman argument would have been found to justify Russian engagement. Becasue what they want there is a geostratgeical stronghold of theirs. The russians are as much guests in syria as the Sovjets were guests in the Warsaw Pact states. And we know that they did not accept to get invited out again, but used tanks to express their denial. The Assads do not represent all of Syria's population, not before the war, an d much less so since this war and their atrocoties committed. It is just an ethical faction of the population where the assad'S score strong. its an ethnic conflict more than most other things. Many in the west do not see this.

If international law would in effect start to reward terror, mass murderring and war crimes, then something os wrong with this law and the way it gets implemented. To let according perpetrators off the hook over formalities, is inhumane, cyncial, and insane. Thats why these days I just laugh about the SC at the UN. Everybody cna see that such an idea could only work with a minimumm of objectivity being used by all its members. And that is not the case.

I think these strikes now are a waste of tax money, I oppose them, but not for those sentimental reasons mentioned in the posts above. In the end, nobody really cares for those civilians, if they would have been killed not by gas, but by starvation in another years-long siege, nothign would have bene done about it.I also question the geostrageical value of the military objections (of reducing Assad'S chemical weapon stockpiles).

Thbe Russians promised one year ago to make sure Assad's chems get destroyed and not used anymore. They broke their promise. And probably had never the intention to make sure to keep it anyway.

Its cheap to always call out the West if it does something somebody does not lie, and shootiung with the internationa law. I hear no complaints if the terrorists of IS, if the Assad in damascus, if the Russian cooperation with barrel-bombing civilians and and if the Iranisn equip and maintain Herzbollah strongholds in syria. Where is your care for justice and freedom and peace there?

The UK, France and the US now do some firweworks. Okay. If their tax payers let their leaders get away with this, it is not too juch of a concern to me. I just think this is a waste, and i wonder that they are doing it. A big mess like the geostrategical defeats after Vietnam or Iraq 03 will not follow this. Its only a waste of tax money.

Next is Russia's moves.

P.S. And while I think of it, no confrontation with Russian troops took place. But we can take it as granted that all really valuable, decisive targets in syria are being protected by either Russian weapon defences, or just Russian presence, or both. And that means that no really important targets can have been hit last night. Which puts the whole operation into doubt again: symbolical theatre thunder. - Looks like a display not of Western resolve, but the explicit lack of it. And this sends defintely a message of weakness, not strength or determination.