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Syria Chemical Attacks And The World's Next Moves

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This image released early Sunday, April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, shows a child receiving oxygen through respirators following an alleged poison gas attack in the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus, Syria. Syrian rescuers and medics said the attack on Douma killed at least 40 people. The Syrian government denied the allegations, which could not be independently verified. The alleged attack in Douma occurred Saturday night amid a resumed offensive by Syrian government forces after the collapse of a truce. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)
This image released early Sunday, April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, shows a child receiving oxygen through respirators following an alleged poison gas attack in the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus, Syria. Syrian rescuers and medics said the attack on Douma killed at least 40 people. The Syrian government denied the allegations, which could not be independently verified. The alleged attack in Douma occurred Saturday night amid a resumed offensive by Syrian government forces after the collapse of a truce. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

With Emily Dreyfuss

More chemical attacks in Syria blamed on the government. Scores dead, including children. We'll look at the options available to President Trump, the United States and the world.

This show airs Tuesday at 10:20 a.m. EST.

Guests:

Eli Lake, Bloomberg View columnist. (@EliLake)

Joshua Landis, author of Syria Comment, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. (@joshua_landis)

Ian Lustick, professor of political science, the University of Pennsylvania.

From The Reading List:

The New York Times: Trump To Decide Soon Whether To Retaliate For 'Barbaric Act' In Syria — "President Trump on Monday denounced the suspected chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of people in Syria over the weekend as a 'barbaric act,' and said he will make a decision in the next 24 to 48 hours about whether to retaliate militarily as he did to a similar assault last year."

USA Today: Syria Chemical Attack Would Be The Eighth Since Trump Took Office — "A suspected weekend chemical attack in a Damascus suburb would be at least the eighth since  President Trump took office and the worst since he launched a military strike at Syrian government forces last April."

The Atlantic: The Terrible Cost Of Obama's Failure In Syria — "Four years ago, it almost looked as if chemical attacks on Syrian civilians would stop. 'We struck a deal where we got 100 percent of the chemical weapons out,' declared then-Secretary of State John Kerry on Meet the Press in 2014. Kerry was referring to Bashar al-Assad’s declared stockpiles of chemical weapons which, under a 2013 deal struck by the Obama administration following a sarin nerve gas attack that brought the U.S. to the brink of striking Syrian government forces, were dismantled and shipped out of the country."

Bloomberg View: Expect Trump to Strike Syrian Forces Again, With the Same Result — "If the past is prelude, we should expect a U.S. strike sometime soon against Syrian airfields."

President Trump lashes out after the FBI raids the office, home and hotel room of Michael Cohen, his personal lawyer—calling it “a witch hunt.” It’s a distraction from the business at hand: What to do about Syria? President Trump vows Syria’s Assad will regret it. Tensions are high across the region and here in the US.

This hour, On Point: Chaos in Syria--understanding US options. And we’ll get into the FBI raid of Trump’s lawyer.

--Emily Dreyfuss

This program aired on April 10, 2018.

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