by Brad McClellan

Last week President Trump ordered 60 tomahawk cruise missiles to be shot at two Syrian air bases in retaliation of the chemical attacks by the Assad regime. Fifty nine of these telephone-pole sized missiles hit their targets and one fell in the water. They were launched from two U.S. destroyers, the USS Porter and the USS Ross in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In 2013 the chemical agent Sarin was used in Ghouta, a city near Damascus, Syria. The U.N. investigated the alleged chemical attacks and called for a ceasefire. The Assad regime accepted two days later and stopped fighting in the region to let the U.N. in. The U.N. Investigation team found “Clear and Convincing evidence” of surface to surface missiles that had carried Sarin. According to the U.N. report, estimates of the death toll ranged from 281 to 1,729 people. After these attacks were carried out President Obama said, “We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.” Obama warned the Assad regime of militaristic consequences if chemical weapons were used again, he then got Syria to sign the U.N.’s chemical weapons convention. This ordered Syria to get rid of all existing chemical weapons, and to never use any in combat again.

President Trump’s hardline stance against the Assad regime is necessary for the safety of nearby countries such as Israel, Iraq, Turkey, and of course the Syrian people themselves. By using these weapons the Assad regime has broken international law. President Obama made it clear that the U.S. would not tolerate this kind of behavior from the Assad regime, and if we stand by and do nothing now, we will be ensuring the use of these weapons in the future by Assad.

I do not believe that Trump is doing everything right though. For example Trump’s proposed healthcare plan is still fairly regulated. I do feel it is better than the Affordable Care Act now, as it doesn’t any longer mandate the regulation of commerce among the states at the threat of a penalty of a fine. However the healthcare market is still fairly controlled at the federal level, this drives up the cost of healthcare in many ways. For example X-Rays have remained relatively the same price over the years, because there is no competition in the X-Ray business. While LASIX eye surgery, a surgery insurance companies wont cover has gone from 2,200 dollars an eye to about 1,000 dollars an eye according to lasix.com. This is because in unregulated markets competition over time lowers the price.