Free Intel.

via the Free Beacon.

A fifth U.S. warship steamed toward the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday to join four other cruise missile destroyers poised for strikes on Syria, as U.S. and allied military planning continued for a bombing campaign against Syria.
U.S. intelligence agencies, meanwhile, continued to put the finishing touches on an assessment the Obama administration expects will conclusively link Syrian government and military leaders to the deadly nerve agent strike near Damascus Aug. 21.
A defense official said the fifth destroyer, the USS Stout, would soon arrive in waters near Syria. The warship is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

I hate these demonstrations of power without an actual military goal.  Besides being wasteful, besides causing unnecessary casualties...they also give the enemy (in this case the Russians, Chinese and Iranians) a pretty good look into our operations.

It also gives the bad guys a glimpse into the combat loadouts of our warships.  If the Russians and Chinese are smart they'll be sending intel ships to the scene at flank speed just so they can count missiles coming off each ship.

Additionally there is suppose to be a submarine in the area that's been converted into a Tomahawk carrier.  That's the real battleship in this scenario and that makes counting warheads from the destroyer even more important.  How does a US Sub launch its payload under combat conditions?  What is the ratio of missiles fired to the platforms deployed?  How far off the coast do we stage our ships when a credible anti-ship missile is available (the Syrians supposedly have the P-800 in service)

We're doing more than wasting missiles on a questionable mission.  We're giving the enemy another look at our playbook for free.