Expect a Russian Reply Directed to Riyadh

The scale of the rogue U.S.-UK-French attack on Syria failed to live up to its promotion in the pages of the prestige press. It's a win for Syria, for Russia, for Iran, for all of us living in the belly of the beast.

The leaders of the crumbling Washington Consensus are caught between the disgusted but heretofore acquiescent masses and the threat of military conflict spiraling out of control and into nuclear war.

That leaves information warfare, psychological operations directed at domestic populations, false flag provocations that fool hardly anyone, jihadist mercenaries, opulently funded spookery and special forces, capped by cruise missile launches.

That's what this latest assault on Syria has reaffirmed -- a failing status quo.

Time is running out. But how much time is left? I always come back to that question. May, a doomed prime minister prior to last night, is now 100% zombie. The flower is off Macron's presidency. Trump is thrashing about like a gaffed fish.

Our problem is there is no substitute paradigm, no enlightened "outs" waiting in the wings to bear the burden of "good government." A social revolution is required. So a social revolution there must be. What this looks like is anyone's guess.

In the immediate future, given that this latest bit of Western insanity was clearly for the benefit of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, expect a Russian reply directed to Riyadh. That's the smart, the correct, move.