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James Bovard, Opinion columnist 3:15 a.m. ET June 26, 2017

In Raqqa, Syria, on June 6, 2017.(Photo: Youssef Rabie Youseff, epa)

Last year on the campaign trail, crowds roared when Donald Trump denounced his opponent as "trigger-happy" Hillary. But President Trump is rapidly incarnating the vice he condemned. Nowhere is this more evident than in Syria, where Trumps recklessness risks dragging America into a major war.

U.S. policy towardSyria has been a tangle of absurdities since 2012. President Obama promised 16 times that he would never put U.S. "boots on the ground" in the four-sided Syrian civil war. He quietly abandoned that pledge and, starting in 2014, launched more more than 5,000 airstrikesthatdroppedmore than 15,000bombs on terrorist groups in Syria.

Four years ago, Trump warned in a tweet: "If the U.S. attacks Syria and hits the wrong targets, killing civilians, there will be worldwide hell to pay." But the Trump administration has sharply increased U.S. bombingwhile curtailing restrictions that sought to protect innocents. A British-based human rights monitoring group estimated Friday that U.S.-led coalition strikes had killed almost 500 civilians in the past month more than any month since U.S. bombing began. A United Nations commission of inquiry concluded that coalition airstrikes have caused a "staggering loss of civilian life."

The carnage is sufficiently embarrassing that "the Pentagon will no longer acknowledge when its own aircraft are responsible for civilian casualty incidents," Micah Zenko of the Council of Foreign Relationsrecently noted.

U.S.-led forces are reportedly bombarding the besieged city of Raqqa with white phosphorous, a munition that burns intensely and is prohibited by international law from use against civilians. Deployingwhite phosphorous to attack Raqqa couldbe a war crime, Amnesty International warns.

Trumps most dangerous innovation involves direct attacks on Syrian government forces, including last weeks shootdown of a Syrian jet fighter. The Russian government, which is backing Syrian President Bashar Assad, responded by threatening to shoot down any aircraft over much of Syria.

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After the Syrian government was accused of killing at least 70 civilians with sarin gas in April, Trump speedily ordered the launch of 59 cruise missiles against a Syrian military airfield. Much of the Americannews media hailed the Syrian missile attack as Trumps finest hour. When he gave the commencement address at Liberty UniversityinMay, the audience cheered when Trump was introduced as the man who "bombed those in theMiddle East who were persecuting and killing Christians." But America could pay a harsh price for Trumps "virtue signalling" with bombs and missiles.

The biggest delusion driving U.S. policy is the quest for viable "moderate rebels" which apparently means groups who oppose Assad but refrain from making grisly videos of beheadings. Americahas spent billions aiding and training Syrian forces who either quickly collapsed on the battlefield or teamed up with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,or al-Qaeda-linked forces. Policy is so muddled that Pentagon-backed Syrian rebels have openly battled CIA-backed rebels.

The United Stateshas armed and aided al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria despite federal law prohibiting providing material support to terrorist groups. A prominent Assad opponent who organized a conference of anti-Assad groups financed by the CIA was recently denied political asylum. The Department of Homeland Security notified Radwan Ziadeh thatbecause he provided "material support" to the Free Syrian Army, he has "engaged in terrorist activity."

By the same standard, thousands of CIA, State Department, Pentagonand White House officials should be jailed. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii,has introduced The Stop Arming Terrorists Actto prohibit any funding, supportor weapons for al-Qaeda, ISIS and allied terrorist groups.

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Every side in the Syrian conflict has committed atrocities, often with approval of their foreign patrons. Former CIA officerPhil Giraldi observed, "The Saudis, Qataris, Turks and Israelis are all currently (or have been recently) in bed with terrorist groups (in Syria)that the United States is pledged to destroy." The Wall Street Journal reported this month that "Israel has been regularly supplying Syrian rebels near its border with cash as well as food, fuel and medical supplies for years."

The Syrian government has never threatened the United States, and Congress has not approved attacking it. White House spokesmanSean Spicer justified Trumps cruise missile attack because "when its in the national interest of the country, the president has the full authority to act." But this is a recipe for unlimited power warring limited solely by self-serving presidential proclamations.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.,condemned Trumps attacks on Syrian government forces as "unconstitutional" and a "completely unlawful use of power." Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., concurs: "This is illegal war at this point."

Killing vast numbers of innocent civilians sows the seeds of future terrorist attacks on America. There are no good options for continuing U.S. intervention in Syria. The only question is whether Trumps blundering will turn that war into a catastrophe for Americans as well as Syrians. As Trump tweetedaboutObamas Syria policy in 2013: "Be prepared, there is a small chance that our horrendous leadership could unknowingly lead us into World War III."

James Bovard,author ofPublic Policy Hooligan,isa member of USA TODAYsBoard of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter@JimBovard

You can read diverse opinions from ourBoard of Contributorsand other writers on theOpinion front page, on Twitter@USATOpinionand in our dailyOpinion newsletter. To submit a letter, comment or column, check oursubmission guidelines.

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Donald Trump is reckless on Syria. It's his most dangerous foreign policy folly. - USA TODAY

CNNs announcement of new publishing restrictions on articles about President Donald Trump and Russia, as reported by Buzzfeed, has delightedright-wing media.

Populist website Breitbart reported that the very fake news scandal was consuming the network, while Fox News host Sean Hannity taunted CNN's Jeff Zucker on Twitter.

CNN has long been accused of liberal bias by criticsand has been one of the key focuses of President Donald Trumps relentless rhetorical assaultsagainst what he has branded the fake news media.

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A sign reading "CNN SUCKS" is held up as President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the Dow Chemical Hangar on December 9, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Trump aimed barbs at the network during his 2016 election campaign; White House press secretary Sean Spiceraccused it of spreading unsubstantiated rumoursin a bid to attract viewers. In his first press conference as president, Trump shouted down CNNs Jim Acostaafter denouncing the news network from the podium.

The following month, CNN was one of several media organizations denied access to an off-camera press briefing with Spicer, while handpicked reporters from conservative websites were invited. A pro-Trump Political Action Committee (PAC)even tried to run an ad on CNNin which the words "fake news"were superimposed on an image of networkanchors.

Another factor in CNN's nervousness is likely to be the declining faith in traditional news outlets, with a September 2016 Gallup poll finding that confidence in mass media to "report the news fully, accurately and fairly" had dropped to the lowest level recorded by the pollster, with only 32 percentsaying the media had their trust.

In such an environment, it is hardly surprising that CNN is taking care to make sure the fake news label does not stick, and tightening its coverage of Trump's alleged Russia ties, where key devel0pments have been leaked to media by officials on condition of anonymity.

CNNs retracted story, which allegedthat the Senate Intelligence Committee was probing claims that the chief of a $10 billion Russian investment fund had met with a member of Trumps transition team days before the presidents inauguration,was based on a single unnamed source.

News organizations generally rely on multiple, independent sources to verify key claims.

To avoidanother such situation,stories involving Trump and Russia now requirethe approval of senior executives before publication. The network is aiming to bolster its credibility in the face of unprecedented White House attacksand rising public skepticism about its integrity.

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Why Is CNN Getting Nervous About Its Coverage of the Donald Trump-Russia Investigation? - Newsweek

U.S. government officials are trying to curbPresident Donald Trumps enthusiasmaboutmeetingRussian counterpart Vladimir Putinat the upcoming G20 summit in Germany, the Associated Press reported.

Trump has not metPutin since being elected last year, despite his claim thathe could meet the Russian leader even before being inaugurated. Now heis keen to hold a full bilateral meeting, two U.S. administration officials, one current and one former,told AP. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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Such a meeting would involve agreeing on a designated space for it, allowing media accessand other diplomatic protocols involved in meetings between two heads of state.

Due to ongoing allegations by the U.S. intelligence community of Russian interference in the U.S. election and a scandal about possible collusion within Trumps team, not everyone in the White House thinks such a meeting is prudent.

State Department and National Security Council officials have asked Trump to consider a more low-profile introduction to the Russian president and perhaps avoid an extended conversation altogether, AP reported.

Among the recommendations are a brief and informal pull-aside on the summits sidelines,and a meeting ofU.S. and Russian delegations for strategic stability talksa format which may or may not involve heads of state.

There is no official confirmationon Moscows or Washingtons side that a meeting in any form has been agreed upon, butPutin and Trump will both attend the summit.

Commenting on the AP report, Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that as far as a possible meeting was concerned, the protocol side of it is secondary. He let on little about Moscow'sawareness of Washingtons ambivalence toward the scale of the meeting but said that in any case there will be a chance to meet. The two governments had not yet ironed out further details about a meeting, he added.

Russia has vociferously denied involved in the U.S. election, and a visibly irate Putin accused U.S. journalists of hysteria on the subject earlier this month.

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Donald Trump Is So Excited About Meeting Vladimir Putin That US Officials Are Worried - Newsweek

Sorry, 53 percent of white women that voted for the current president, but Donald Trump is a rich white mans president. Hes aligned himself with the hatred held by poor, white, middle and Southern Americans to motivate them to the polls, and every now and then, he throws them a bone to remind them that hes still a leader in hate.

Not celebrating Eid al-Fitr with a dinner at the White House is just that. Its a presidential bone to xenophobes who openly hate Muslims, and a reassurance that Donald Trump is still a xenophobe in chief who openly hates Muslims.

The White House had held a Eid al-Fitr feast, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, every year since President Bill Clintons tenure. However, current Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly rejected a request to hold a reception, theBBC reports.

Despite numerous studies that show that Americas biggest terrorists have always been and arguably always will be white men; like black-on-black violence, or the scary Muslim myth, the demagogue in chief continues to lead his tribe down a path of hate because this is what he does.

One thing about Trump that remains consistent is his hate. He hates anything not white. His campaign into the White House was soaked in anti-Muslim rhetoric. Currently,the Supreme Court is deciding on the constitutionality of the presidents proposed Muslim travel ban. Trump even went so far as to request surveillance of U.S.-based mosques, the BBC reports.

The president did issue an empty statement as a hollow gesture to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

On behalf of the American people, Melania and I send our warm greetings to Muslims as they celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the statement read, BBC reports.

Muslims in the United States joined those around the world during the holy month of Ramadan to focus on acts of faith and charity. Now, as they commemorate Eid with family and friends, they carry on the tradition of helping neighbors and breaking bread with people from all walks of life.

During this holiday, we are reminded of the importance of mercy, compassion and goodwill. With Muslims around the world, the United States renews our commitment to honor these values. Eid Mubarak.

One of the easiest ways to know that the president had nothing to do with this statement is that nothing was misspelled. It also didnt mention Hillary Clinton or her emails.

The president didnt hold Eid dinner because he is openly a horrible person, and part of me believes thats a good thing, because all of us nonwhite people know where we stand with this administration and its mission to Make America Hate Again.

Read more at BBC.

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Here's Why Donald Trump Ended the Eid Dinner Tradition - The Root

The 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump

"We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will Make America Great Again!"

- PresidentDonald J. Trump

Donald J. Trump is the very definition of the American success story, setting the standards of excellence in his business endeavors, and now, for the United States of America.

A graduate of the Wharton School of Finance, President Trump has always dreamed big and pushed the boundaries of what is possible his entire career, devoting his life to building business, jobs and the American Dream. This was brought to life by a movement he inspired in the people of America when he announced his candidacy for President of the United States in June 2015.

This movement would ultimately lead to one of the most unique Presidential campaigns in history. Ever the leader, Trump followed no rule book and took his message, Make America Great Again directly to the people. Campaigning in historically democratic states and counties across the country, Trump was elected President in November 2016 in the largest electoral college landslide for a Republican in 28 years.

President Trump is working hard to implement his America First platform, continuing his promise to the American people to lower taxes, repeal and replace Obamacare, end stifling regulations, protect our borders, keep jobs in our country, take care of our veterans, strengthen our military and law enforcement, and renegotiate bad trade deals, creating a government of, by and for the people.

He is making America First, again, restoring our nations faith, ushering in a bright, new future now and for generations to come.

Born in Columbus, Indiana, Mike Pence had a front row seat to the American Dream. A family of Irish immigrants, Vice President watched his grandparents and parents build everything that matters a family, a business, and a good name. He was raised to believe in the importance of hard work, faith, and family.

After meeting the love of his life, Second Lady Karen Pence, and graduating law school, Vice President Pence led the Indiana Policy Review Foundation and hosted a syndicated talk radio show focused on Indiana public affairs. Along the way, he became the proud father to three children.

In 2000, he launched a successful bid for his local congressional seat, entering the United States House of Representatives at the age of 40. After serving in Congress for 12 years, Vice President was elected the 50th Governor of Indiana in 2012. It was Indianas success story, his record of legislative and executive experience, and his strong family values that prompted President Donald Trump to select Mike Pence as his running mate in July 2016.

Since being elected on November 8, 2016, Vice President Mike Pence remains grateful for the grace of God, the love and support of his family, and the blessings of liberty that are every Americans birthright. He looks forward to working with the American people as together they seek to Make America Great Again.

Donald J.Trump & Mike Pence

President Trump

Vice President Pence

Team Trump

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About | Donald J Trump