Beautiful Little Babies

Is there not something frightening in hearing the leader of the armed forces of the greatest power in the world “confess” that he completely changed his mind on the basis of a simple feeling?

On April 4, shortly after the sarin gas attack on the Syrian town of Khan Shaykhun, President Donald Trump denounced, quite rightly, a “chemical attack that was so horrific” and stated that it had killed, among some 87 people, “even beautiful little babies.”

The following day, in a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, the United States representative, Nikki Haley, brandished photos of Syrian children who were victims of the attack by way of announcing that her country was “compelled to take our own action.” One day later, American ships in the Mediterranean fired – without having advised the U.N. – 59 Tomahawk missiles (at 780,000 euros, or approximately $850,000 each) at the Syrian air base in Al-Shayrat which had launched the attack against Khan Shaykhun, killing six Syrian soldiers and destroying roughly 20 planes, but apparently leaving the runway intact. The majority of Western governments and media approved.

A Tear in the Corner of the Eye

It’s not a matter of passing judgement on the sincerity of Trump’s feelings after seeing the images of Syria’s infant victims. Moreover, it seems that he does not have the ability, as his predecessor did on occasion, of furtively suppressing a tear in the corner of his eye. The inflammatory and militaristic speeches of candidate Trump, and then President Trump, could make us doubt his honesty, but that’s not the point.

The problem, it seems to me, is found first of all with the heads of media organizations which report, without distancing themselves from the story, such “moments of emotion” as news items in their own right. It is a fact that for some time now, emotion has been at the heart of our TV news bulletins, which resemble entertainment programs more and more.

However, this problem lies much more with our politicians who, nowadays, play up to the emotions felt by the public. Trump’s “beautiful little babies” make me think of the affair of the Kuwaiti incubators which were emptied (It was said at the time of the invasion of the emirate in 1990) of their infants, who were abandoned on the floor and taken to Iraq by Saddam Hussein’s lackeys. This “scandal” sparked, as it should, an outcry in the United States, and it allowed George H.W. Bush to get the backing of Congress for his intervention in Iraq, which left at least 500,000 dead. How many of these were “beautiful little babies?” We learned afterward that this scandal was a complete fabrication, perpetrated by the company Hill and Knowlton, and the American government, with the help of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the U.S., whose daughter was presented to said Congress as a tearful nurse who had witnessed the scene. Since then, George W. Bush has allowed us to see his “daddy” as an honorable man.

Khan Shaykhun and its consequences also raise questions about the US “democratic” system itself. A system which, besides the fact that it only allows millionaires to attain power, has recently shown us (with Bush Junior and Donald Trump) that these millionaires can also be completely incompetent. Because what the incessant course changes of Donald Trump, and his remarks after the sarin attack show, once again, is that he is a president who, obsessed with his own ego and his resentment towards Barack Obama, doesn’t understand the issues involved.

A Sudden Change of Heart

Trump “learned a lot” from Xi Jinping about the Korean situation during their meeting on April 6.* However, this did not prevent him from making some very definitive – and dangerous – remarks on the matter, nor did it prevent him from deploying an aircraft carrier off the Korean coast two days later.

The president of the United States referred back to the emotion that he felt on seeing the images of Khan Shaykhun several times, confiding to the press that, after seeing them, “my attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much.” This, after six years of conflict and more than 310,000 dead. However, even if Trump is being honest, is there not something frightening in hearing the leader of the armed forces of the greatest power in the world “confess” that he completely changed his mind on the basis of a simple feeling?

Just recently, UNICEF estimated that the violence against children in Syria had reached its highest level in 2016 with at least 652 children killed (20 percent more than 2015), of which more than a third occurred near schools. Furthermore, 2.3 million Syrian children throughout the world are currently deprived of education, of which 1.7 are in Syria and a third have known nothing but war. There are 280,854 children in areas which are besieged by the different sides involved in the war and more than 6 million are in need of humanitarian aid.

It is certainly not the Syrians who will believe in the sincerity of Trump’s feelings. For six years, they have seen their children killed or left crippled for life. In truth, when it comes to the Syrian “beautiful little babies,” Trump and Vladimir Putin, Bashar Assad and the rebel chiefs, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leaders of the oil-producing nations and a great many other of the world’s most powerful couldn’t care less.

*Although accurately translated, this phrase attributed to Trump could not be independently verified.