Reportedly prior to the first Gulf war, April Glaspie the US Ambassador to Iraq told Saddam Hussein that the US had no opinion on Arab-Arab conflicts, like his border dispute with Kuwait. A short while after their meeting, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait causing a regional conflict with international proportions. Glaspie’s words, rightly or wrongly, have been interpreted as a ‘green light’ to Saddam to invade its Arab Gulf neighbor.

Same happened with President Obama with his infamous ‘red-line-crossing’ warning to Bashar Al Assad, after which the latter generously dispensed chemical agents against the opposition forces in Syria. When the US strikes did not materialize the sarin gas was sprayed, again and again, on among others, civilians throughout the countryside. But to blame the Obama administration of such disastrous outcome is neither novel nor shocking. Such administration has wreaked havoc across the Middle East from its ill-fated nuclear deal with Iran, to supporting the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt, to leading from the rear in Libya that yielded the Benghazi massacre, to the Yemeni hell, and finally to the descent of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon slowly but surely into the abyss of an Iranian Anschluss.

What is more disturbing, has been a similar pattern by the Trump administration, one that supposedly swears to get tough on Iran and its acolytes. How then could one interpret the very words of Nikki Haley the US Ambassador to the UN when she proclaimed only last week that the removal of Assad is no more a priority for the US? How did she think Assad would understand such message? As a mere list of priorities, or a sign of accepting the status quo, or seeking a rapprochement with Putin or something else altogether? What predictably followed was sarin gas diplomacy unleashed by the Assad regime emboldened by yet another ‘green light’ from the White House. The Assad regime is a calculating machine, and has proven its astuteness in taking advantage of any slippage of a tongue, any slight confusion or retrenchment on the part of the Western alliance and especially the US. What did Nikki Haley and her boss Tillerson, and her boss’ boss President Trump expect from such disgraceful statement? An honorary seat at the Syrian peace table, a concession from Russia, a caving-in by Iran or a change of heart by Assad? Such words coming from Washington or New York are simply baffling. They have sent the heads of Arab diplomats spinning after a show of support by their respective countries to this very same administration. That, despite its ambiguous statements regarding the two–states solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the travel ban that hit a number of Arab countries, including Iraq in its first version.

Then came the finale with the statement of President Trump, during the joint press conference with King Abdullah of Jordan, that the latest sarin gas attack in Syria crosses many lines for him. What next? The usual no-action movie from Washington and the sequel of another gas horror show by the Assad regime in response to rhetorical bombs hurled from the bully pulpit? Or, a much awaited but significantly limited military strike by the US that would have to take into account the realities on the ground including, massive Russian forces and their much feared s300 missile defense system?

The US President has effectively used his Twitter account to whip the loyalty of his supporters and to sometimes call out the hypocrisy of his opponents, but when words carry a life and death sentence to thousands of people including infants, one should abstain from talking unless a big stick is about to be decisively used, not only carried around. Otherwise fake words would become more popular than fake news in Washington’s circles.