{"id":10449,"date":"2017-04-10T15:39:24","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T22:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/?p=10449"},"modified":"2018-01-03T20:03:50","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T03:03:50","slug":"chemical-gas-tomahawk-missiles-and-a-180-turn-in-trumps-position-on-syria-was-there-a-wag-the-dog-scenario-behind-last-weeks-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/?p=10449","title":{"rendered":"HuffPost: Chemical gas, Tomahawk missiles and a 180 turn in Trump\u2019s position on Syria. Was there a \u201cWag The Dog\u201d scenario behind last week\u2019s attack?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"HuffPost%3A%20Chemical%20gas%2C%20Tomahawk%20missiles%20and%20a%20180%20turn%20in%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20position%20on%20Syria.%20Was%20there%20a%20%E2%80%9CWag%20The%20Dog%E2%80%9D%20scenario%20behind%20last%20week%E2%80%99s%20attack%3F\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p><a href=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-10-at-5.45.54-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-10462\" title=\"Screen Shot 2017-04-10 at 5.45.54 PM\" src=\"http:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-10-at-5.45.54-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"503\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-10-at-5.45.54-PM.png 838w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-10-at-5.45.54-PM-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-10-at-5.45.54-PM-800x448.png 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 503px) 100vw, 503px\" \/><\/a>\u00a0<strong>By Peter Lance April 10th, 2017<\/strong>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.investigatingtrump.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">investigatingtrump.com<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<a title=\"HuffPost\" href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/58ebc840e4b0145a227cb73f\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>The HuffPost<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Few who have observed President Trump\u2019s visceral reaction to news footage in his regular Twitter storms, could doubt that\u00a0<em>part<\/em>\u00a0of his motivation in sending 59 Tomahawk missiles into Syria Thursday night was his reaction to the footage of children, \u201cbeautiful babies\u201d as he put it, being gassed in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun by Bashar al-Assad\u2019s air force.\u00a074 people were\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/world\/2017\/4\/4\/15177166\/bashar-al-assad-syria-poison-gas-attack-idlib-chemical-weapons-khan-sheikhoun\">reported killed,<\/a>\u00a0including 16 women and 23 children.<\/p>\n<p>That precipitous military strike represented a turn-on-a-dime change from Trump\u2019s longtime Syria policy which only a week earlier, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley pronounced would be \u201chands off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in Ankara on March 30th,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/english.alarabiya.net\/en\/News\/middle-east\/2017\/03\/30\/Tillerson-Assad-s-long-term-status-to-be-decided-by-Syrian-people.html\" target=\"_blank\">Tillerson said<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cthe longer term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people;\u201d a population that after six devastating years of war had no chance of affecting any change.<\/p>\n<p>The next day at the U.N. speaking of Assad,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bigstory.ap.org\/article\/4d13259802034db887a44b59b1c6f7a3\/white-house-says-reality-changing-regard-syria\" target=\"_blank\">Haley declared,<\/a>\u00a0\u201cDo we think he\u2019s a hindrance? Yes. Are we going to sit there and focus on getting him out? No.\u201d Reflecting that same position, White House spokesman\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/spicer-u-s-must-face-political-reality-of-assad-in-syria-194540233.html\" target=\"_blank\">Sean Spicer called<\/a>\u00a0Assad\u2019s status\u00a0as self-imposed dictator-for-life\u00a0a \u201cpolitical reality we have to accept.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those weren\u2019t surprising\u00a0 positions given the President\u2019s multiple Tweets in 2013 in which he bellowed at Barack Obama in 140 character assaults to \u201cstay the hell out of Syria, the \u201crebels\u201d are just as bad as the current regime. WHAT WILL WE GET FOR OUR LIVES AND $BILLIONS?ZERO.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Months later he sent this message: \u201cTO OUR VERY FOOLISH LEADER, DO NOT ATTACK SYRIA \u2013 IF YOU DO MANY VERY BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN &amp; FROM THAT FIGHT THE U.S. GETS NOTHING!\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-09-at-9.57.42-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"306\" height=\"265\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But on Thursday, even before the attack, Tillerson was talking about\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2017\/04\/06\/trump-tillerson-suggest-assad-should-be-removed-in-apparent-reversal.html\" target=\"_blank\">regime change<\/a>\u00a0in Damascus. \u201cThere would be no role for (Assad) to govern the Syrian people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>That night at 7:40 pm EDT the 59 BGM-109 Tomahawks made by Raytheon at a cost of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2017\/04\/07\/obama-once-looked-to-downsize-tomahawk-missile-system-used-in-syria-strike.html\" target=\"_blank\">$1.4 million each<\/a>\u00a0were launched from the USS destroyers Porter and Dodge in the Med, aimed at the al-Sharyat Airbase in Central Syria, from which, intelligence suggested, the warplanes responsible for the chemical attack had taken off.<\/p>\n<p>An hour later at 8:40 pm EDT the missiles hit a series of targets at the base and by morning\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/2017\/04\/07\/syria-missile-attack-satellite-photos-show-major-damage-to-airfields.html\" target=\"_blank\">Foxnews was announcing<\/a>\u00a0\u201clarge scale destruction to airfields, planes and fueling facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the UK Telegraph reported that the airport\u2019s runways remained largely intact. There was damage to some concrete revetments and out-buildings and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2017\/04\/07\/did-donald-trump-strike-al-shayrat-air-base\/\" target=\"_blank\">six MiG-23 fighters<\/a>\u00a0under repair were destroyed but within hours the runway was fully functioning and Syrian SU-22 fighters\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2017\/04\/08\/syrian-warplanes-take-air-base-bombed-us-tomahawks\/\" target=\"_blank\">were taking off from the base.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-09-at-10.02.12-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"245\" height=\"162\" \/>The limited damage was partly a function of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2017\/04\/06\/the-us-warned-the-russians-ahead-of-syria-missile-strikes-official.html\">the warning<\/a>\u00a0the U.S. gave to Russia at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/04\/07\/us\/politics\/syria-strike-trump-timeline.html?_r=0\" target=\"_blank\">7:10 p.m<\/a>. the night of the attack, allowing Moscow and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/International\/eyewitness-syrian-military-anticipated-us-raid\/story?id=46641107\" target=\"_blank\">their Syrian allies<\/a>\u00a0a full 90 minutes to remove any functioning aircraft and key personnel from the base before the Tomahawks struck.<\/p>\n<p>Given that the attack was largely symbolic vs. strategic and had little immediate impact on the Syrian civil war in which 500,000 civilians have been killed, it\u2019s worth asking whether there was\u00a0<em>something more<\/em>\u00a0behind the $82.6 million Tomahawk barrage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A PAGE FROM THE CLINTON PLAYBOOK<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On Friday night Lawrence O\u2019Donnell was the first network commentator to theorize that the attack was the result of a calculated move by Vladimir Putin to deflect attention from the mounting scandal that has engulfed the Trump presidency since the Kremlin\u2019s hack of the 2016 election; a scandal bolstered by continuing news reports on the metastasizing body of evidence that some of his surrogates may have been in on it.<\/p>\n<p>In the lead segment of his MSNBC program \u201cThe Last Word,\u201d O\u2019Donnell showed a graphic with the words \u201cWag The Dog?\u201d referencing Barry Levinson\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0120885\/\" target=\"_blank\">1997 black comedy<\/a>\u00a0in which a Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman) was hired by a political spin doctor (Robert DeNiro) to create a fake crisis in Eastern Europe to divert attention from a presidential sex scandal just before an election.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-12.10.11-AM-2-300x168.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Months after the film opened, in a stunning reversal on the notion that \u201cart imitates life,\u201d President Bill Clinton greenlit\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Operation_Infinite_Reach\" target=\"_blank\">Operation Infinite Reach,<\/a>\u00a0a Tomahawk cruise missile attack against the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, Sudan (and other targets in Afghanistan). The strike was reportedly retaliation for al Qaeda\u2019s simultaneous bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Ethiopia and Kenya on August 7th,\u00a01998.<\/p>\n<p>It was alleged at the time that Osama bin Laden had been using the plant to manufacture VX nerve gas, and the attack, in which the plant was destroyed, took place on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/august-20-1998-the-us-bombs-a-suspected-qaeda-run-chemical-plant-in-sudan\/\">the same day<\/a>\u00a0that Monica Lewinsky appeared before a grand jury to testify about her affair with Clinton.<\/p>\n<p>The timing was certainly curious. Even though the strike came 13 days after the East African Embassy bombings, as I reported in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/1000-Years-Revenge-International-FBI-ebook\/dp\/B000FCJZ22\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1483669114&amp;sr=1-5&amp;linkCode=sl1&amp;tag=petlan-20&amp;linkId=a3374953430d164633d143d9d81d7b7a\" target=\"_blank\">\u201c1000 Years For Revenge,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0back in 2003 the FBI had known for years that bin Laden was behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and they\u2019d had multiple opportunities to interdict al Qaeda before the Khartoum raid.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WAR AS A HEADLINE CHANGER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The idea of boosting a President\u2019s popularity by flexing military muscle isn\u2019t new. Five years before the Sudan\/Afghanistan attacks the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/174524?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents\" target=\"_blank\">Journal of Conflict Resolution<\/a>\u00a0published a detailed study noting that \u201ca president is more likely to become involved in a militarized dispute when his popularity within his party his low.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Clinton\u2019s predecessor George H.W. Bush got\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gallup.com\/poll\/4912\/bush-job-approval-reflects-record-rally-effect.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">an 18 point gain<\/a>\u00a0in his poll numbers after the first missiles were fired into Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-09-at-9.17.58-PM-300x283.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"226\" \/>By March 20th,\u00a02017 Donald Trump\u2019s approval ratings had hit a new low,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2017\/03\/20\/trump-poll-numbers-are-dismal-but-he-can-boost-them-commentary.html\" target=\"_blank\">dropping to 37%<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>So is it too cynical to raise the question of whether there was more behind the al-Sharyat attack than the President\u2019s revulsion to the images of gassed children?<\/p>\n<p>Further, as O\u2019Donnell suggests, was Mr. Trump aided and abetted by Vladimir Putin, a strong man he repeatedly praises, calling him\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/powerpost\/wp\/2016\/12\/30\/trump-praises-putins-response-to-sanctions-calls-russian-leader-very-smart\/?utm_term=.9b8578343d97\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cvery smart\u201d<\/a>\u00a0after his \u201cchess move\u201d play to stand down after the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/obama-administration-announces-measures-to-punish-russia-for-2016-election-interference\/2016\/12\/29\/311db9d6-cdde-11e6-a87f-b917067331bb_story.html?tid=a_inl&amp;utm_term=.d4af5c331b8c\" target=\"_blank\">expulsion of Russian spies<\/a>\u00a0December 29th?<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE PLUTO EFFECT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The nature of investigative reporting is that sometimes you uncover the hard evidence \u2013 the smoking gun document that proves the dirty deal or the quid pro quo. Other times you rely on inside sources who have access to the truth. Much of what we now know about the evidence that prompted two congressional investigations into Trump and Russia was derived from leaks like that.<\/p>\n<p>Then there are times when you look at the hard evidence<em>\u00a0around<\/em>\u00a0an event.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a process I like to call the \u201dPluto effect,\u201d named for the 9th\u00a0planet in the solar system (downgraded in 2006 to dwarf planet status). In 1905, a quarter century before its discovery was confirmed, astronomer\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/pluto-discovered\" target=\"_blank\">Percival Lowell postulated<\/a>\u00a0that variations in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune were caused by the pull of another planetary body as yet unknown.<\/p>\n<p>He knew it was there. He just couldn\u2019t\u00a0<em>see<\/em>\u00a0it. It wasn\u2019t until the\u00a0<em>after<\/em>\u00a0Lowell\u2019s death in 1930 that a new telescope, named for him, was built and the existence of this heretofore \u201cplanet\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/pluto-discovered\" target=\"_blank\">confirmed.<br \/>\n<\/a><br \/>\nUntil the giant telescope actually captured<em>\u00a0an image<\/em>\u00a0of Pluto the evidence of its existence was \u201ccircumstantial\u201d and right now much of the evidence about the Trump connection to Russia during the 2016 election is in that same category.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-09-at-7.24.43-PM-300x151.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"151\" \/>But as Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) the ranking Democrat on the beleaguered House Intelligence Committee recently described it, circumstantial evidence can be compelling.\u00a0He put it this way\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/transcripts\/rachel-maddow-show\/2017-03-20\" target=\"_blank\">in an interview<\/a>\u00a0with Rachel Maddow:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you go outside in the\u00a0afternoon and there`s no snow on the ground and you wake up the next\u00a0morning and there is snow on the ground, you can pretty well conclude that\u00a0it snowed overnight. That`s circumstantial. If you see the snow coming down, then you can say I have direct evidence that it snowed. (But) circumstantial evidence can be very, very powerful and indicative of something that`s happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>THE CASE FOR A \u201cWAG THE DOG\u201d SCENARIO IN SYRIA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As mentioned, for years leading up to Thursday night\u2019s Tomahawk attack Donald Trump\u2019s Twitter record was vehemently\u00a0<em>against<\/em>\u00a0Syrian intervention and his two foreign policy surrogates confirmed that position as recently as 10 days ago.<\/p>\n<p>Ten days before that, on March 20th,\u00a0FBI Director James Comey\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/nyt-live-comey-confirms-f-b-i-inquiry-into-trump-campaign-links-to-russian-hackers-says-he-has-no-information-on-trumps-wiretapping-charge\/\" target=\"_blank\">told the House Intel Committee<\/a>that that the Bureau was investigating not only Russia\u2019s interference in the election but whether Trump associates were in contact with Moscow.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Schiff began that hearing\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/rep-schiff-repeatedly-cites-findings-of-christopher-steele-ex-mi6-operative-author-of-dossier-at-house-hearing\/\" target=\"_blank\">with a statement<\/a>\u00a0that cited multiple sections of the \u201cDossier\u201d compiled by the well respected former MI6 operative Christopher Steele who reported an alleged secret meeting between Trump campaign advisor Carter Page and Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft \u2014 Russia\u2019s gas giant. Sechin is a former KGB agent and close Putin surrogate.<\/p>\n<p>The next night (March 21st) Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who\u2019d been on the Trump transition team, kicked off a bizarre 24 hour off-the-books back-and-forth run\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/cnn-house-intel-chairman-trumps-personal-communications-may-have-been-collected\/\" target=\"_blank\">to the White House<\/a>designed to provide cover for the President\u2019s March 4th\u00a0Twitter tirade in which he falsely accused President Obama of \u201cwiretapping\u201d Trump Tower.<\/p>\n<p>The following day in two press conferences surrounding a trip to the Oval Office,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/cnn-house-intel-chairman-trumps-personal-communications-may-have-been-collected\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nunes said he\u2019d discovered evidence<\/a>\u00a0from the \u201cincidental collection\u201d of intelligence, which hinted at the potential surveillance of Trump himself during the Obama administration, a disclosure Mr. Trump said, caused him to feel\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/washington\/la-na-essential-washington-updates-president-trump-said-he-felt-somewhat-1490217617-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\">\u201csomewhat\u201d vindicated.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That same day a lawyer who was about to testify in an important whistleblowing case on Russian corruption\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/upi-lawyer-in-russian-whistleblowing-case-badly-injured-in-fall\/\" target=\"_blank\">fell from a 4th\u00a0floor window<\/a>\u00a0in Moscow and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/ap-exclusive-before-trump-job-manafort-worked-to-aid-putin\/\" target=\"_blank\">The AP reported<\/a>\u00a0that from 2006-2009 Trump\u2019s former campaign manager Paul Manafort secretly worked for a Russian oligarch on a plan to \u201cgreatly benefit\u201d the Putin government. For his efforts at image building for the Kremlin and its strongman, Manafort was paid $10 million a year.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-09-at-9.15.12-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"437\" height=\"138\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hours later CNN, reported that the FBI was investigating Manafort and Page, along with fired National Security advisor Michael Flynn and longtime Trump friend Roger Stone. The network also disclosed that the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/cnn-u-s-officials-info-suggests-trump-associates-may-have-coordinated-with-russians\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bureau had evidence\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0that Trump associates communicated with the Russians to \u201cpossibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton\u2019s campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The headlines and negative revelations were now coming with ever-increasing frequency.<\/p>\n<p>The next day (March 23rd) in what was described as \u201cAn act of Russian state terrorism\u201d a prominent Putin critic who defected to Ukraine last year was\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/business-insider-an-act-of-russian-state-terrorism-russian-lawmaker-and-putin-critic-who-defected-to-ukraine-shot-dead-in-kiev\/\" target=\"_blank\">shot to death in Kiev.<\/a>\u00a0It was the latest in a series of murders, poisonings and<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/nyt-more-of-kremlins-opponents-are-ending-up-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0untimely deaths<\/a>\u00a0for political foes, journalists, human rights advocates and whistleblowers, rubbed out with chilling frequency during Putin\u2019s reign.<\/p>\n<p>The following day, Rep. Schiff\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/ny-mag-schiff-says-nunes-canceled-russia-hearing-to-protect-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a>\u00a0that in an effort to protect the President, Chairman Nunes had cancelled an upcoming public hearing set to include damaging testimony from fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates who was prepared to swear under oath that in his dealings with the Russians, Michael Flynn could have been\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-justice-department-warned-white-house-that-flynn-could-be-vulnerable-to-russian-blackmail-officials-say\/\" target=\"_blank\">subject to blackmail<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The reports of unexplained ties between the President\u2019s men and Russian businessmen, spies and economic interests were now beginning to hit The White House every day like a series of body blows.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A KIDNAPPING PLOT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On March 25th another bombshell dropped relating to disgraced ex-National Security Advisor Flynn when the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wsj-ex-cia-director-mike-flynn-and-turkish-officials-discussed-removal-of-erdogan-foe-from-u-s\/\" target=\"_blank\">Wall Street Journal quoted<\/a>\u00a0former CIA Director James Woolsey who described a meeting he\u2019d attended with Flynn and Turkish officials in which an alleged plot was discussed to kidnap a U.S. based rival to Turkish dictator Recep Erdogan.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in the month\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/ap-former-trump-aide-flynn-says-lobbying-may-have-helped-turkey\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Associated Press reported\u00a0<\/a>that Flynn had failed to register as a foreign agent at a time when he was with the Trump campaign and received $530,000 from Turkish interests. Then\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/yahoo-news-moscow-paid-45000-for-flynns-2015-talk-documents-show\/\">Yahoo News<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-trump-adviser-flynn-paid-by-multiple-russia-related-entities-new-records-show\/\">The Washington Post<\/a><\/em>\u00a0reported separately on secret payments he\u2019d received from various Russian entities including RT (Russia Today) the Kremlin propaganda arm\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/world\/2017\/1\/6\/14194986\/russia-hack-intelligence-report-election-trump\" target=\"_blank\">cited by U.S. Intelligence agencies<\/a>\u00a0as an outlet for anti-Clinton \u201cfake news\u201d during the campaign.<\/p>\n<p>On March 30th,\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/nyt-2-white-house-officials-helped-give-nunes-intelligence-reports\/\">The NYT reported<\/a><\/em>\u00a0that Chairman Nunes had actually received the so-called intel he used to brief the President from two WH officials, during his clandestine nighttime trip the week before. The House investigation was now spinning into a revolving door of chaos.<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-09-at-9.21.48-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"133\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The next day the Senate Intelligence Committee held a hearing in which\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/the-guardian-russian-deception-influenced-election-due-to-trumps-support-senators-hear\/\" target=\"_blank\">an ex-FBI agent described<\/a>\u201cactive measures\u201d the Russian\u2019s had used to influence the 2016 election including the planting of \u201cfake news\u201d which, he said, was ongoing. One planted story, he testified, had even influenced President Trump as recently as October 11th\u00a02016.<\/p>\n<p>And if the head-spinning blizzard of news from the previous weeks wasn\u2019t enough, the lawyer for Michael Flynn\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wsj-mike-flynn-offers-to-testify-in-exchange-for-immunity\/\" target=\"_blank\">dropped a bomb<\/a>, saying that he was willing to testify to the FBI or congressional investigators with \u201ca story to tell,\u201d\u00a0<em>provided<\/em>\u00a0he was granted immunity from prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s how that week ended for the Trump administration, but there was far more disturbing news tied to the Russia scandal to come.<\/p>\n<p><strong>REPORT OF A BACK-CHANNEL<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On April 3rd,\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-blackwater-founder-held-secret-seychelles-meeting-to-establish-trump-putin-back-channel\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Wash Post disclosed<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>that Erik Prince, brother of Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater, had held a secret meeting in January (brokered by the United Arab Emirates) in an alleged move to create a \u201cback channel\u201d of communications between Trump and Putin.<\/p>\n<p>The very same day Carter Page\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/buzzfeed-a-former-trump-adviser-met-with-a-russian-spy\/\" target=\"_blank\">confirmed for BuzzFeed<\/a>\u00a0that in 2013 he\u2019d met with and given documents to a man who turned out to be a convicted Russian spy.<\/p>\n<p>Both of those stunning setbacks for the Trump presidency happened on the same day as the chemical gas attack in Khan Sheikoun, but more damaging headlines in the Russian-Trump scandal were imminent.<\/p>\n<p>On April 6th,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/nyt-devin-nunes-under-investigation-by-house-ethics-committee-to-step-aside-from-house-investigation-on-russia\/\" target=\"_blank\">Devin Nunes stepped aside<\/a>\u00a0from his leadership of the Russia probe after the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into his alleged \u201cunauthorized disclosures of classified information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And if that wasn\u2019t enough to rock The West Wing,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/nyt-senate-committee-to-question-jared-kushner-over-meetings-with-russians\/\" target=\"_blank\">Senate investigators<\/a>\u00a0began to focus on Trump son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner, whom\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/nyt-kushner-omitted-meeting-with-russians-on-security-clearance-forms\/\" target=\"_blank\">The NYT reported<\/a><\/em>\u00a0had failed to report (on security clearance forms) a secret meeting he and Flynn had had in Trump Tower with Russian ambassador and top U.S. spy Sergey Kislyak.<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-09-at-10.57.47-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"314\" height=\"209\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Even more serious, Kushner<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/nyt-kushner-omitted-meeting-with-russians-on-security-clearance-forms\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0failed to disclose<\/a>\u00a0a clandestine session he\u2019d had with Sergey N. Gorkov, the head of a Russian state-owned bank currently under sanctions \u2014 another shadowy figure (and former spy) with close ties to Putin<\/p>\n<p>Now, beyond Manafort, Page, Flynn and Stone, Russiagate was getting dangerously close to the President himself and two Democratic members of the House Intel Committee\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/dems-trump-russian-probe-jail-us_us_58e427ffe4b03a26a3674fe5\" target=\"_blank\">predicted<\/a>\u00a0that \u201csome people (would) end up in jail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>PUTIN\u2019S MOTIVATION IN A \u201cFALSE FLAG\u201d OPERATION<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So how much credence should we give to that \u201cWag The Dog,\u201d take-the-heat off-the-White House theory behind the missile strike? Like any criminal enterprise you have to follow the money and determine who stands to gain. In this case, apart from Donald Trump that would be Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n<p>His principal motive for helping Trump into the White House was the removal of sanctions slapped on Russia following its annexation of Crimea. Those punitive measures killed a $723 million joint venture between Tillerson\u2019s former company Exxon\/Mobil and Rosneft, to drill for crude in the Arctic Circle\u2019s Kara Sea \u2014 a loss\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/forbes\/welcome\/?toURL=https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kenrapoza\/2015\/02\/27\/heres-what-exxons-lost-from-russia-sanctions\/&amp;refURL=http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/trump-channels-the-ghost-of-nixon-begins-new-year-with-a-tweet-to-his\" target=\"_blank\">estimated by\u00a0Exxon itself\u00a0<\/a>at upwards of $1 billion.<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-09-at-9.24.25-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"274\" height=\"171\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It was his discussion of sanctions in calls with Kislyak during the transition\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/nyt-michael-flynn-resigns-as-national-security-adviser\/\" target=\"_blank\">that led to Flynn\u2019s firing<\/a>. Eric Prince\u2019s secret meeting in the Seychelles\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-blackwater-founder-held-secret-seychelles-meeting-to-establish-trump-putin-back-channel\/\" target=\"_blank\">reportedly involved<\/a>\u00a0the sanctions issue as well.<\/p>\n<p>As recently as February 8th, Sen. Lindsey Graham, joined by five other GOP Senators\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/articles\/2017\/02\/08\/senators-to-president-donald-trump-not-so-fast-on-russia-sanctions-relief.html\" target=\"_blank\">said he would defy<\/a>\u00a0any legislation proposed to lift the sanctions on Russia without their approval.<\/p>\n<p>If Vladimir Putin had any hopes of sanction relief in the days just after the election, the Tsunami of controversy in the ever-widening election-hack-influence probe had now killed them.<\/p>\n<p>That is, up until those chemical nerve agents hit those children in Khan Sheikoun.<\/p>\n<p>Given that he\u2019s all but won the civil war, Assad\u2019s use of chemical weapons after agreeing to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/world\/middleeast\/la-fg-syria-chemical-weapons-20170406-story.html\" target=\"_blank\">Russian brokered ban<\/a>\u00a0in 2014 would have been otherwise counter-productive. In addition, he\u2019d certainly never risk a move like that without the approval of his principal rabbi in Moscow. The use of nerve agents after the Kremlin guaranteed their removal would also \u2014 on the surface \u2014 present an embarrassment to Putin.<\/p>\n<p>But this theory lies beneath all of that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>THREE CHESS MOVES AHEAD<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For more than six decades\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.rocketsoftware.com\/2015\/04\/understanding-russian-dominance-competitive-chess\/\" target=\"_blank\">Russia has dominated<\/a>\u00a0the world of competitive chess. So it\u2019s fair to wonder whether Putin, an ex-spook honed in the tradecraft of Maskirovka (deception) would draw Trump into a military move that had the effect of quieting the media on the election-tampering story.<\/p>\n<p>How far off was Lawrence O\u2019Donnell,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-vNb4pfaQjI\" target=\"_blank\">when on Friday\u2019s broadcast<\/a>\u00a0he wondered whether\u00a0Putin conspired \u201cto kill people as a way of helping the image of the President of the United States.\u201d\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/investigatingtrump.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-09-at-9.26.30-PM-300x204.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"184\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Such a \u201cfalse flag\u201d operation would cause the U.S. media, he said, to \u201cchange the subject from Russian influence in the Trump campaign\u2026 transition and\u2026 White House.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s perfect,\u201d he went on. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t just change the subject. For most of the news media it changes the\u00a0<em>conventional wisdom<\/em>\u00a0about the dynamic between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Donald Trump has finally dared to do something that Vladimir Putin doesn\u2019t like. It changes everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And sure enough, as Bill Maher pointed out\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zpDDpv52X5A\" target=\"_blank\">on his HBO program<\/a>\u00a0Friday night \u201cEven the liberals were all over\u201d Trump\u2019s Tomahawk launch. \u201cEverybody loves this f___ing thing.\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/style\/wp\/2017\/04\/08\/even-the-liberals-were-all-over-this-bill-maher-disgusted-by-the-cable-news-response-to-syria\/?tid=a_inl&amp;utm_term=.07a9478a9c95\" target=\"_blank\">He said in his opening monologue.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cCable news loves it when they show footage of destroyers firing cruise missiles at night. It\u2019s America\u2019s money shot.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>HOW DO WE JUDGE THE VALIDITY OF THIS THEORY?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Watch, the coverage in the days ahead. In the weeks leading up to the gas attack and missile strike major international news agencies gave more and more credence to the charges of Trump collusion with Russia raised in Christopher Steele\u2019s \u201cDossier.\u201d Those charges were taken seriously on Capitol Hill by a number of members on both sides of the aisle.<\/p>\n<p>See if that narrative changes now.<\/p>\n<p>Watch what happens after Rex Tillerson visits Moscow this coming week. Already\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-mideast-crisis-syria-putin-tillerson-idUSKBN17C13K\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Reuters is reporting<\/a>\u00a0that Putin, who gifted Rex with the Russian Order of Friendship, won\u2019t see him personally. Could that represent more distracting chaff from Vlad, the ex-spy?<\/p>\n<p>Will Trump\u2019s bellicose tone toward Russia\u2019s involvement in Syria soften? See if he ups the military ante with Damascus \u2014 highly unlikely. See if you catch any whiff of a rapprochment on the sanctions issue. And be particularly vigilant of any return to Trump\u2019s mantra that improved relations with Russia will help in the fight against ISIS. Watch for that.<\/p>\n<p>Having tracked Putin\u2019s moves going back decades as I research a book on the election hack, my sense is that Lawrence O\u2019Donnell could be right. Both the U.S. and Russian Presidents had something significant to gain from that missile strike \u2013 an attack that did little or nothing to impact Assad\u2019s ability to kill his own people. But since Thursday night the media has \u00a0been relatively quiet on Russiagate. See if that changes in the days ahead.<\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t always take a telescope to prove that \u201csomething is out there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"HuffPost%3A%20Chemical%20gas%2C%20Tomahawk%20missiles%20and%20a%20180%20turn%20in%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20position%20on%20Syria.%20Was%20there%20a%20%E2%80%9CWag%20The%20Dog%E2%80%9D%20scenario%20behind%20last%20week%E2%80%99s%20attack%3F\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p>\u00a0By Peter Lance April 10th, 2017\u00a0investigatingtrump.com\u00a0The HuffPost Few who have observed President Trump\u2019s visceral reaction to news footage in his regular Twitter storms, could doubt that\u00a0part\u00a0of his motivation in sending 59 Tomahawk missiles into Syria Thursday night was his reaction to the footage of children, \u201cbeautiful babies\u201d as he put it, being gassed in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[1197,779,1194,1196,989,1192,1188,785,1195,126,1190,1191,985,1193,1189,1186],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10449"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10449"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10453,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10449\/revisions\/10453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peterlance.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}