It doesn't make any sense, unless you realize that the deep state wants to destabilize Syria and dethrone Assad by force.

Then suddenly the narrative we're being offered starts making more sense. And I stress the word narrative, as in "story".

Sorry for my ignorance but what is the 'deep state' . Never heard of it.

Late reply. Not sure if you will see this, but think of it as the part of the government that doesn't change with the new administration. That is very much simplified, but gives you some idea.

You think some greenhorn administration comes in and says how things are done? No, the deep state makes the rules. They know the game, they have played it forever, they make the rules. What changes every four years is just a facade.

Sure, burying your head in the sand is a strategy too. Good for you.

Which people on the ground? You sound like you're getting your talking points from CNN.

How about a reporter who has personally visited Syria and Aleppo herself?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueyWGyddepw

You do not seem to be aware that there are terrorists operating in Syria that are funded by the west. Let's just start with that.

> Why would the Syrian government torture and mutilate a 13-year-old boy and then return the body/proof to the parents?

The obvious possible motive is to send a signal that that's what happens if you oppose the regime. Your kid disappearing isn't as strong a message as receiving his corpse in pieces.

> There was no strategical need for dropping gas but still, he apparently did... why would he?

There was strategical need to drop bombs, even Assad and Putin acknowledged that. Why not gas? The lesson from the previous gas attack a few years ago, whether or not he did it, was that he could get away with it.

And there's been ethnical cleansing going on on both sides in that region. So it isn't the most surprising thing either.