Trump’s ‘Wag the Dog’ Moment21st Century Wire says Robert Parry, best known for breaking the Iran-Contra affair, takes us through what we know so far surrounding Donald Trump s recent decision to send Tomahawk missiles into Syria and also explores what lies behind the  plans within plans  of the White House and those who now celebrate yet seemingly manipulate Trump behind the curtain.Patrick Henningsen of 21st Century Wire was joined by Robert on 1100KFNX  Patrick Henningsen LIVE  and is an interview you don t want to miss.More on this report from Consortium News  Robert Parry Consortium NewsJust two days after news broke of an alleged poison-gas attack in northern Syria, President Trump brushed aside advice from some U.S. intelligence analysts doubting the Syrian regime s guilt and launched a lethal retaliatory missile strike against a Syrian airfield.Trump immediately won plaudits from Official Washington, especially from neoconservatives who have been trying to wrestle control of his foreign policy away from his nationalist and personal advisers since the days after his surprise victory on Nov. 8.There is also an internal dispute over the intelligence. On Thursday night, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. intelligence community assessed with a  high degree of confidence  that the Syrian government had dropped a poison gas bomb on civilians in Idlib provinceBut a number of intelligence sources have made contradictory assessments, saying the preponderance of evidence suggests that Al Qaeda-affiliated rebels were at fault, either by orchestrating an intentional release of a chemical agent as a provocation or by possessing containers of poison gas that ruptured during a conventional bombing raid.One intelligence source told me that the most likely scenario was a staged event by the rebels intended to force Trump to reverse a policy, announced only days earlier, that the U.S. government would no longer seek  regime change  in Syria and would focus on attacking the common enemy, Islamic terror groups that represent the core of the rebel forces.The source said the Trump national security team split between the President s close personal advisers, such as nationalist firebrand Steve Bannon and son-in-law Jared Kushner, on one side and old-line neocons who have regrouped under National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, an Army general who was a prot g  of neocon favorite Gen. David Petraeus.White House InfightingIn this telling, the earlier ouster of retired Gen. Michael Flynn as national security adviser and this week s removal of Bannon from the National Security Council were key steps in the reassertion of neocon influence inside the Trump presidency. The strange personalities and ideological extremism of Flynn and Bannon made their ousters easier, but they were obstacles that the neocons wanted removed.Though Bannon and Kushner are often presented as rivals, the source said, they shared the belief that Trump should tell the truth about Syria, revealing the Obama administration s CIA analysis that a fatal sarin gas attack in 2013 was a  false-flag  operation intended to sucker President Obama into fully joining the Syrian war on the side of the rebels   and the intelligence analysts  similar beliefs about Tuesday s incident.Instead, Trump went along with the idea of embracing the initial rush to judgment blaming Assad for the Idlib poison-gas event. The source added that Trump saw Thursday night s missile assault as a way to change the conversation in Washington, where his administration has been under fierce attack from Democrats claiming that his election resulted from a Russian covert operation.If changing the narrative was Trump s goal, it achieved some initial success with several of Trump s fiercest neocon critics, such as neocon Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, praising the missile strike, as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The neocons and Israel have long sought  regime change  in Damascus even if the ouster of Assad might lead to a victory by Islamic extremists associated with Al Qaeda and/or the Islamic State.Wagging the DogTrump employing a  wag the dog  strategy, in which he highlights his leadership on an international crisis to divert attention from domestic political problems, is reminiscent of President Bill Clinton s threats to attack Serbia in early 1999 as his impeachment trial was underway over his sexual relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky. (Clinton also was accused of a  wag-the-dog  strategy when he fired missiles at supposed Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998 in retaliation for the bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.)Trump s advisers, in briefing the press on Thursday night, went to great lengths to highlight Trump s compassion toward the victims of the poison gas and his decisiveness in bombing Assad s military in contrast to Obama s willingness to allow the intelligence community to conduct a serious review of the evidence surrounding the 2013 sarin-gas caseUltimately, Obama listened to his intelligence advisers who told him there was no  slam-dunk  evidence implicating Assad s regime and he pulled back from a military strike at the last minute   while publicly maintaining the fiction that the U.S. government was certain of Assad s guilt.In both cases   2013 and 2017   there were strong reasons to doubt Assad s responsibility. In 2013, he had just invited United Nations inspectors into Syria to investigate cases of alleged rebel use of chemical weapons and thus it made no sense that he would launch a sarin attack in the Damascus suburbs, guaranteeing that the U.N. inspectors would be diverted to that case.Similarly, now, Assad s military has gained a decisive advantage over the rebels and he had just scored a major diplomatic victory with the Trump administration s announcement that the U.S. was no longer seeking  regime change  in Syria. The savvy Assad would know that a chemical weapon attack now would likely result in U.S. retaliation and jeopardize the gains that his military has achieved with Russian and Iranian help.The counter-argument to this logic   made by The New York Times and other neocon-oriented news outlets   essentially maintains that Assad is a crazed barbarian who was testing out his newfound position of strength by baiting President Trump. Of course, if that were the case, it would have made sense that Assad would have boasted of his act, rather than deny it.But logic and respect for facts no longer prevail inside Official Washington, nor inside the mainstream U.S. news media Continue this report at Consortium News READ MORE SYRIA NEWS AT:  21st Century Wire SYRIA FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TVMiddle-east
trump wag dog century wire says robert party best known breaking affair takes us know far surrounding donald trump recent decision send tomahawk missiles syria also explores lies behind plans within plans white house celebrate yet seemingly manipulate trump behind henningsen century wire joined robert patrick henningsen live interview want report consortium news robert party consortium newscast two days news broke alleged attack northern syria president trump brushed aside advice intelligence analysts doubting syrian regime guilt launched lethal retaliatory missile strike syrian immediately audits official washington especially neoconservatives trying wrestle control foreign policy away nationalist personal advisers since days surprise victory also internal dispute intelligence on thursday night secretary state rex tillerson said intelligence community assessed high degree confidence syrian government dropped poison gas bomb civilians dlib provincebut number intelligence sources made contradictory assessments saying preponderance evidence suggests al rebels fault either orchestration intentional release chemical agent provocation possessing containers poison gas ruptured conventional bombing intelligence source told likely scenario staged event rebels intended force trump reverse policy announced days earlier government would longer seek regime change syria would focus attacking common enemy islamic terror groups represent core rebel source said trump national security team split president close personal advisers nationalist rebrand steve cannon jared pusher one side neurons regrouped national security adviser master army general prot g noon favorite david house infighting telling earlier ouster retired michael flynn national security adviser week removal cannon national security council key steps assertion noon influence inside trump presidency the strange personalities ideological extremism flynn cannon made oysters easier obstacles neurons wanted cannon pusher often presented rivals source said shared belief trump tell truth syria revealing obama administration cia analysis fatal marin gas attack operation intended sucker president obama fully joining syrian war side rebels intelligence analysts similar beliefs tuesday trump went along idea embracing initial rush judgment blaming assad dlib event the source added trump saw thursday night missile assault way change conversation washington administration fierce attack democrats claiming election resulted russian covert changing narrative trump goal achieved initial success several trump fierce noon critics noon senators john mccain lindsay graham praising missile strike israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu the neurons israel long sought regime change damascus even ouster assad might lead victory islamic extremists associated al qaeda islamic dogtrump employing wag dog strategy highlights leadership international crisis divert attention domestic political problems reminiscent president bill clinton threats attack serbia early impeachment trial underway sexual relationship intern monica lewinsky clinton also accused strategy fired missiles supposed al qaeda bases afghanistan sudan retaliation bombing embassies kenya tanzania trump advisers briefing press thursday night went great lengths highlight trump compassion toward victims poison gas decisiveness bombing assad military contrast obama willingness allow intelligence community conduct serious review evidence surrounding caseultimately obama listened intelligence advisers told evidence implications assad regime pulled back military strike last minute publicly maintaining fiction government certain assad cases strong reasons doubt assad responsibility in invited united nations inspectors syria investigate cases alleged rebel use chemical weapons thus made sense would launch marin attack damascus suburbs guaranteeing inspectors would diverted assad military gained decisive advantage rebels scored major diplomatic victory trump administration announcement longer seeking regime change syria the savvy assad would know chemical weapon attack would likely result retaliation jeopardize gains military achieved russian iranian logic made the new york times news outlets essentially maintains assad crazed barbarian testing newfound position strength baiting president trump of course case would made sense assad would boasted act rather deny logic respect facts longer prevail inside official washington inside mainstream news media continue report consortium news read more syria news at century wire syria filessupport our work by subscribing becoming a member
Your task is to classify the provided input as real or fake news. Label 0 is meant for fake news, Label 1 is for real news. TEXT: Trump’s ‘Wag the Dog’ Moment21st Century Wire says Robert Parry, best known for breaking the Iran-Contra affair, takes us through what we know so far surrounding Donald Trump s recent decision to send Tomahawk missiles into Syria and also explores what lies behind the  plans within plans  of the White House and those who now celebrate yet seemingly manipulate Trump behind the curtain.Patrick Henningsen of 21st Century Wire was joined by Robert on 1100KFNX  Patrick Henningsen LIVE  and is an interview you don t want to miss.More on this report from Consortium News  Robert Parry Consortium NewsJust two days after news broke of an alleged poison-gas attack in northern Syria, President Trump brushed aside advice from some U.S. intelligence analysts doubting the Syrian regime s guilt and launched a lethal retaliatory missile strike against a Syrian airfield.Trump immediately won plaudits from Official Washington, especially from neoconservatives who have been trying to wrestle control of his foreign policy away from his nationalist and personal advisers since the days after his surprise victory on Nov. 8.There is also an internal dispute over the intelligence. On Thursday night, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. intelligence community assessed with a  high degree of confidence  that the Syrian government had dropped a poison gas bomb on civilians in Idlib provinceBut a number of intelligence sources have made contradictory assessments, saying the preponderance of evidence suggests that Al Qaeda-affiliated rebels were at fault, either by orchestrating an intentional release of a chemical agent as a provocation or by possessing containers of poison gas that ruptured during a conventional bombing raid.One intelligence source told me that the most likely scenario was a staged event by the rebels intended to force Trump to reverse a policy, announced only days earlier, that the U.S. government would no longer seek  regime change  in Syria and would focus on attacking the common enemy, Islamic terror groups that represent the core of the rebel forces.The source said the Trump national security team split between the President s close personal advisers, such as nationalist firebrand Steve Bannon and son-in-law Jared Kushner, on one side and old-line neocons who have regrouped under National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, an Army general who was a prot g  of neocon favorite Gen. David Petraeus.White House InfightingIn this telling, the earlier ouster of retired Gen. Michael Flynn as national security adviser and this week s removal of Bannon from the National Security Council were key steps in the reassertion of neocon influence inside the Trump presidency. The strange personalities and ideological extremism of Flynn and Bannon made their ousters easier, but they were obstacles that the neocons wanted removed.Though Bannon and Kushner are often presented as rivals, the source said, they shared the belief that Trump should tell the truth about Syria, revealing the Obama administration s CIA analysis that a fatal sarin gas attack in 2013 was a  false-flag  operation intended to sucker President Obama into fully joining the Syrian war on the side of the rebels   and the intelligence analysts  similar beliefs about Tuesday s incident.Instead, Trump went along with the idea of embracing the initial rush to judgment blaming Assad for the Idlib poison-gas event. The source added that Trump saw Thursday night s missile assault as a way to change the conversation in Washington, where his administration has been under fierce attack from Democrats claiming that his election resulted from a Russian covert operation.If changing the narrative was Trump s goal, it achieved some initial success with several of Trump s fiercest neocon critics, such as neocon Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, praising the missile strike, as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The neocons and Israel have long sought  regime change  in Damascus even if the ouster of Assad might lead to a victory by Islamic extremists associated with Al Qaeda and/or the Islamic State.Wagging the DogTrump employing a  wag the dog  strategy, in which he highlights his leadership on an international crisis to divert attention from domestic political problems, is reminiscent of President Bill Clinton s threats to attack Serbia in early 1999 as his impeachment trial was underway over his sexual relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky. (Clinton also was accused of a  wag-the-dog  strategy when he fired missiles at supposed Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998 in retaliation for the bombing of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.)Trump s advisers, in briefing the press on Thursday night, went to great lengths to highlight Trump s compassion toward the victims of the poison gas and his decisiveness in bombing Assad s military in contrast to Obama s willingness to allow the intelligence community to conduct a serious review of the evidence surrounding the 2013 sarin-gas caseUltimately, Obama listened to his intelligence advisers who told him there was no  slam-dunk  evidence implicating Assad s regime and he pulled back from a military strike at the last minute   while publicly maintaining the fiction that the U.S. government was certain of Assad s guilt.In both cases   2013 and 2017   there were strong reasons to doubt Assad s responsibility. In 2013, he had just invited United Nations inspectors into Syria to investigate cases of alleged rebel use of chemical weapons and thus it made no sense that he would launch a sarin attack in the Damascus suburbs, guaranteeing that the U.N. inspectors would be diverted to that case.Similarly, now, Assad s military has gained a decisive advantage over the rebels and he had just scored a major diplomatic victory with the Trump administration s announcement that the U.S. was no longer seeking  regime change  in Syria. The savvy Assad would know that a chemical weapon attack now would likely result in U.S. retaliation and jeopardize the gains that his military has achieved with Russian and Iranian help.The counter-argument to this logic   made by The New York Times and other neocon-oriented news outlets   essentially maintains that Assad is a crazed barbarian who was testing out his newfound position of strength by baiting President Trump. Of course, if that were the case, it would have made sense that Assad would have boasted of his act, rather than deny it.But logic and respect for facts no longer prevail inside Official Washington, nor inside the mainstream U.S. news media Continue this report at Consortium News READ MORE SYRIA NEWS AT:  21st Century Wire SYRIA FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TVMiddle-east
Your task is to classify the provided input as real or fake news. Label 0 is meant for fake news, Label 1 is for real news. TEXT: trump wag dog century wire says robert party best known breaking affair takes us know far surrounding donald trump recent decision send tomahawk missiles syria also explores lies behind plans within plans white house celebrate yet seemingly manipulate trump behind henningsen century wire joined robert patrick henningsen live interview want report consortium news robert party consortium newscast two days news broke alleged attack northern syria president trump brushed aside advice intelligence analysts doubting syrian regime guilt launched lethal retaliatory missile strike syrian immediately audits official washington especially neoconservatives trying wrestle control foreign policy away nationalist personal advisers since days surprise victory also internal dispute intelligence on thursday night secretary state rex tillerson said intelligence community assessed high degree confidence syrian government dropped poison gas bomb civilians dlib provincebut number intelligence sources made contradictory assessments saying preponderance evidence suggests al rebels fault either orchestration intentional release chemical agent provocation possessing containers poison gas ruptured conventional bombing intelligence source told likely scenario staged event rebels intended force trump reverse policy announced days earlier government would longer seek regime change syria would focus attacking common enemy islamic terror groups represent core rebel source said trump national security team split president close personal advisers nationalist rebrand steve cannon jared pusher one side neurons regrouped national security adviser master army general prot g noon favorite david house infighting telling earlier ouster retired michael flynn national security adviser week removal cannon national security council key steps assertion noon influence inside trump presidency the strange personalities ideological extremism flynn cannon made oysters easier obstacles neurons wanted cannon pusher often presented rivals source said shared belief trump tell truth syria revealing obama administration cia analysis fatal marin gas attack operation intended sucker president obama fully joining syrian war side rebels intelligence analysts similar beliefs tuesday trump went along idea embracing initial rush judgment blaming assad dlib event the source added trump saw thursday night missile assault way change conversation washington administration fierce attack democrats claiming election resulted russian covert changing narrative trump goal achieved initial success several trump fierce noon critics noon senators john mccain lindsay graham praising missile strike israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu the neurons israel long sought regime change damascus even ouster assad might lead victory islamic extremists associated al qaeda islamic dogtrump employing wag dog strategy highlights leadership international crisis divert attention domestic political problems reminiscent president bill clinton threats attack serbia early impeachment trial underway sexual relationship intern monica lewinsky clinton also accused strategy fired missiles supposed al qaeda bases afghanistan sudan retaliation bombing embassies kenya tanzania trump advisers briefing press thursday night went great lengths highlight trump compassion toward victims poison gas decisiveness bombing assad military contrast obama willingness allow intelligence community conduct serious review evidence surrounding caseultimately obama listened intelligence advisers told evidence implications assad regime pulled back military strike last minute publicly maintaining fiction government certain assad cases strong reasons doubt assad responsibility in invited united nations inspectors syria investigate cases alleged rebel use chemical weapons thus made sense would launch marin attack damascus suburbs guaranteeing inspectors would diverted assad military gained decisive advantage rebels scored major diplomatic victory trump administration announcement longer seeking regime change syria the savvy assad would know chemical weapon attack would likely result retaliation jeopardize gains military achieved russian iranian logic made the new york times news outlets essentially maintains assad crazed barbarian testing newfound position strength baiting president trump of course case would made sense assad would boasted act rather deny logic respect facts longer prevail inside official washington inside mainstream news media continue report consortium news read more syria news at century wire syria filessupport our work by subscribing becoming a member