Trump taunts are too much, too late

WITH the bodies of the dead Syrian children killed in Douma by chemical weapons piling up in front of us on our television screens, we should hang our heads in collective shame.

There is no doubt about who bears responsibility for the crime.

The stinking Assad regime would never have tempted providence without the political and military back-up of Putin’s Russia.

But the hand-wringing response that we should “do something” is coming late.

The moment to take action against Assad was when chemical weapons were used by his murderous regime in the first place. That rubicon was crossed in 2013. The taboo was broken with no real consequences for the Syrian government.

The west walked away when the British Parliament voted against air strikes and allowed president Barack Obama to prevaricate and do nothing.

The gap in the Middle East was filled by Russia and Assad was strengthened.

Yet Obama’s wobble when confronted by a war-weary public is nothing on Donald Trump’s belligerence this week.

The US President’s playground taunts against Russia on social media prove once again that he is the worst possible person to be in the White House.

The Syrian conflict is complex and multifaceted.

While the evil of the Assad regime should be confronted, there ought to be caution in a headlong, all-out strike that could quickly escalate into a superpower stand-off.