Is Trump a warmonger?

It's amazing how quickly things change from January to April.  Over the last few months we heard a LOT about the nefarious connections between President Trump and the Russians.  Secret meetings, recorded conversations, congressional investigations and then multiple FBI investigations.  What did it all mean?  What was the truth?  Was or is Trump a puppet or a Russian sympathizer?

But then, in one fiery video stream we saw 60 Tomahawk missiles heading to an airfield in Syria.  In direct contravention to the wishes of the Russians.  Which leaves one to wonder...was it in direct response to the horrific Sarin gas attack or was it designed to throw the legions of the mass media that have accused the administration of collusion with Russia?  Was it a message to the North Koreans?  Was it all three?  

Syria is a complex and very hard to process situation that most Americans have little feel for.  If you follow NBC, ABC or any of the major papers you get the feeling of a good guys and bad guys theme.  Are there good and bad guys?   Can they be so easily defined?  Can Americans discern the differences?  I'm not sure it's possible.  The overarching media theme and narrative from political leaders is that Assad has to go.  Primarily he's done horrible things to his people.  Yet, we have seen how this plays out.  

We heard similar things about Saddam Hussein in Iraq.  We sent out best and most patriotic to end his terrible reign and we have been left with a total mess.  We did the same in Libya, even though Gaddafi had moved to support the west after the horror of 911.  In Egypt we pushed for the same thing hoping that our type of democracy would flourish.

None of this has come to pass.  So why would Syria be different?  In this case we have even more players and much bigger stakes.  The Russians have had a long history with the regime and want the warm water port.  The Iranians are also involved due to the demographics of the country and for a useful area for spreading their tentacles.

At the end of the day the best thing about the missile strike was the message it sent to the rest of the world.  It may not be the best thing for Syria, but I'm not sure that was the point.  It accomplished a few things.  It backed off the media, reminded the Russians that we have the ability to project power like no other nation, as well as let other countries know that Donald Trump is many things, but certainly not one who is afraid to act.