On 16 April 2018, the internationally respected analyst of Middle-Eastern affairs, Abdel Bari Atwan, headlined about Trump’s increasingly overt plan to break Syria up and to establish permanent U.S. control over the parts it wants, “Attempting the Unachievable”. He stated that
“The coming few months are likely to prove very difficult for the Americans, and very costly, not just in Syria but also in Iraq.”
He closed:
“Who will cover the costs of this American move? There are no prizes for guessing the answer: it has already been spelled out.”
The only country that his article mentioned was Israel:
“It would not be surprising if Israel and the various lobbies that support were behind this American strategic volte-face. For Israel is in a state of panic.”
I do not consider this enormous reversal of Israel — from recipient to donor — to be likely. Far likelier, in my view, is Saudi Arabia, to finance the invasion.
So, to recap... 105 munitions launched against targets the OPCW says were NOT chemical weapons facilities. 22 hit their targets, half fell out of the air due to technical problems, and the rest were intercepted.