Conservative columnist S.E. Cupp rips the White House's lax approach to Syria: 'Is Trump man enough?'

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

last updated 4 April 2017

Conservative columnist S.E. Cupp published a blistering op-ed in the New York Daily News on Tuesday that slammed the Trump administration for its back-burner approach to the "brutality" of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Cupp's piece comes on the heels of reports of a sarin gas attack in the province of Idlib in northwestern Syria, which is believed to have been ordered by the Assad regime. The Syrian medical relief group UOSSM reports that 100 people were killed and 400 others injured, including many children. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer dismissed Trump's responsibility, claiming in a statement that "these heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration's weakness and irresolution."

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Despite a continued holocaust in Assad's Syria, the Trump administration seems to have no clearer vision — practical or moral — for ending the Syrian slaughter.While it's nearly doubled U.S. forces in northern Syria to fight ISIS, the administration has also said ousting Assad will no longer be a focus.This is morally unconscionable and politically shortsighted. As long as Assad is killing his own people without international accountability, extremists will continue to exploit the chaos and power vacuum to their benefit. And when Syrian civilians have a choice between death by Russian air strikes and chlorine bombs or a well-paying job with ISIS, eventually terrorism will be the better option. [Daily News]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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