nwsun, The latest chemical attack in Syria reveals the bankruptcy of Trump’s policies toward Assad
Most certainly it was Asaad.
by Max Boot April 8
An image released by the Syrian Civil Defense on Sunday shows bodies inside a room following an alleged chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Douma, Syria. (Syrian Civil Defense/AFP)
And re your "Unfortunately Russia didn't like NATO's plan to place nukes near their border, hence Putin's affiliation and defense of Assad (not to mention Syria's huge oil reserves)." see
Did NATO Promise Not to Enlarge? Gorbachev Says “No” Steven Pifer Thursday, November 6, 2014 [...] To be sure, the former Soviet president criticized NATO enlargement and called it a violation of the spirit of the assurances given Moscow in 1990, but he made clear there was no promise regarding broader enlargement.
Several years after German reunification, in 1997, NATO said that in the “current and foreseeable security environment” there would be no permanent stationing of substantial combat forces on the territory of new NATO members. Up until the Russian military occupation of Crimea in March, there was virtually no stationing of any NATO combat forces on the territory of new members. Since March, NATO has increased the presence of its military forces in the Baltic region and Central Europe. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2014/11/06/did-nato-promise-not-to-enlarge-gorbachev-says-no/
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