The US missile strikes on Syria took place amid back-to-back achievements by the Syrian army against Turkey- and Saudi-backed terrorists.
The strikes seemed actually aimed at filling the gap of Turkey's and Saudi's support to terrorists in Syria. Turkey appears to have no more space to back the terrorists due to its internal woes while Saudi is fully entangled with the war on Yemen.
In the political arena too the terrorists have engaged in serious internal conflicts while they proved to be the loser of recent peace talks.
The US strikes apparently came in a bid to provide more room for the terrorists as the past experience shows.
The US seeks to change the rule of game in favor of its allies through a surprising attack that would also be interpreted as a gift to its Arab friends.
The US President Donald Trump may also seek to distract attention from the internal US problems by the strikes.
Also, he may seek to steal the upper hand from Russia in the Middle East especially after the latter vetoed a draft resolution on a chemical attack in Syria.
Though the strikes look limited and may not be repeated, any more strikes would lead to an unfettered war on the region with consequences for the entire international community.