Yeah, but WHEN were the messages going on? If only in the last few weeks they are chattering - KNOWING that they are being intercepted - then this may be a set up to make it appear that Assad didn't directly order the strike. But either way, he IS responsible for what his military does so the international community - not just the U.S. - needs to respond.
I don't think dropping some cruise missiles will make much of an impact now since we already know they have moved military assets OUT of bases and into civilian areas just because they know we won't bomb them there. With all the brilliant people working for Obama, can't anyone come up with a better idea than this??? There HAS to be a better way to hurt Assad and his loyal henchmen and to discourage them from EVER doing it again. There are other ways to get the message to them. It may mean getting their ally Russia to disown them by the world leaning hard on Putin first. What good is the United Nations if not for just this kind of thing???
Obama needs to admit he overstepped and engaged his mouth sooner than his brain. He needs to admit that he was wrong to puff up his chest and DARE Assad to use WMD's. He's a MUSLIM! Doesn't Obama supposedly know how to think like one?
In your eagerness to punish Assad, you have revealed the primary reason why we shouldn't: The wrong guy is in charge.
We can't trust the Obama administration to mount a coherent strategy against a meaningful or realistic objective. Nor can you trust them to manage the consequences of whatever action they might take.
If you're leader is a vacillating narcissistic amateur, you don't go to war.
A competent C-I-C would have already had an effective operational plan in hand before he said anything about "red lines". The military staff lives to do Contingency Plans, so why wasn't there one in place that could have been activated within 24 hours after the chemical attack was confirmed?