Mission Accomplished? Who Were The Real Winners?

That was Trump's tweet after 105 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired at Syria -- 76 fired at a research facility, 22 fired at a storage facility, and 7 fired at a chemical weapons bunker. The U.S. is claiming it has destroyed Syria's ability to make and use chemical weapons. That's doubtful. While some buildings were destroyed, the Russians and Syrians had several days to prepare for the strike. It looks a lot like the previous missile strike against Syria -- when they were warned it would happen and moved their planes out of the way, and only a few buildings were damaged.

If anything was accomplished, it was only a public relations effort. The U.S., Great Britain, and  France were able to make a statement against the use of chemical weapons. And Donald Trump got to feed his narcissism and pose as a strongman willing to use military power.

There were some winners after the missile strike, but it wasn't the United States, Great Britain, or France. It was Syria, Russia, and Iran. They were winners because the strike did nothing to degrade their military power in Syria.

Syria can continue its war against its own people, which they are winning. Soon, Assad will be able to once again impose his brutal regime on all Syrians.

Russia can continue to aid Assad. They will be rewarded with a client state in the Middle East that is friendly to them -- and a warm water port on the Mediterranean.

Iran, who once stood alone in that area of the world, will have a friend now (and likely another in Iraq, since they are also helping their with troops on the ground).

And there is one more winner -- an American corporation (Raytheon). They will now get to replace those 105 cruise missiles at a cost of about $1.87 million each.