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Expanded intervention in Syria's civil war? The promised "red line" punitive strike? An equivocal pause for congressional rumination? Ambiguous postponement? Or... a "Saturday Night Live" Emily Litella "never mind" skit on the world stage -- farcical incompetence an obscene response to obscene tragedy? The five preceding sentence fragments framed as questions sketch five potential near-term futures, each either created by or now operationally constrained by President Barack Obama's Aug. 20, 2012 "red line" declaration. They are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they could all occur. Near-simultaneity would be difficult, but given this past week's combination of Keystone Kops and kabuki,...

Late last night, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee settled on new language for an authorization to attack Syria for its use of chemical weapons. Unlike the language proposed by the White House, this explicitly forbids the use of ground troops, limits the action to only Syria, and authorizes force for a maximum of 90 days with the specific intent to stop Bashar al-Assad from using WMDs in the future: Senate Foreign Relations Committee leaders have reached an agreement on the language for the resolution authorizing the use of force against Syria for up to 90 days — but with no...

I can understand why we aided Bin Laden in Afghanistan - to break the Russians. I can understand why both Bushes fought against Saddam - as encouraged by even Democrats. It made a lot of sense to me that Ronald Reagan bombed the heck out of Lybia in 1986. So much shock and awe went down on Lybia that Gadaffi's pride was humbled to the point that he finally submitted  to more peaceful terms with the U.S. What President Obama is planning for Syria, is inexplicable, and it remains to be seen if he will do anything. As Secretary...

Mounting evidence raises questions about Syrian chemical weapon attack Yossef Bodansky, Senior Editor, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs There is a growing volume of new evidence from numerous sources in the Middle East — mostly affiliated with the Syrian opposition and its sponsors and supporters — which makes a very strong case, based on solid circumstantial evidence, that the Aug. 21 chemical strike in the Damascus suburbs was indeed a premeditated provocation by the Syrian opposition. The extent of U.S. foreknowledge of this provocation needs further investigation because available data puts the “horror” of the Barack Obama White House in a...

Rush finally breaking open the whole setup - syrian rebels mixing chemical weapons into conflict to draw U.S. into war to take out Assad. FINALLY!!

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: All right. So here's the deal. Last week, Obama reverses himself and says that he's not gonna go into Syria. Remember, they're using nerve gas. John Kerry goes out there, 1,500 people, 2,400 people, a lot of kids, nerve gas, sarin gas, got the proof. Look, I'm gonna get into all the hypocrisy. Yes, Kerry dining with Bashar back in 2009 and talking about what a great guy Bashar was. The bottom line is this administration is as incompetent as Jimmy Carter. There's only one difference. If there were anybody else running this administration right now, this...

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad slammed President Obama and again denied his government’s role in a chemical attack against civilians in an interview Monday with the French newspaper Le Figaro.

President Obama made the right and honorable decision to ask Congress before launching a missile attack on Syria. It was a surprising change, and impressive. The issue now turns to persuading Congress that hypothetical costs of not attacking exceed obvious risks of attacking – including those of a vengeful strike on Israel from Syria, Lebanon, and/or Gaza, which could get the U.S. deeply entangled. The centerpiece of the White House argument for a punitive strike on Assad is the unclassified “U.S. Government Assessment of the Syrian Government’s Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21, 2013.” This report claims more confidence...

Chemical Weapons (Sarin Gas)

How did Obama blow it regarding Syria's chemical weapons? He opened his mouth. When Obama opened his mouth, the internet relayed his words to Syria and the Syrians have certainly moved them away from sight. Obama should not have said anything until he had approval from Congress if he was going to deal with them directly. Too late now, Obama blew it by opening his mouth.

There is outrage among the chattering class over Assad’s use of toxic chemicals, and a supine public is sullenly acquiescing. The United States is about to start its 3rd war in the area. One cannot easily discern coherence as to our interests/policy in Syria from the “wizards” currently pretending to be in charge in DC, a familiar state of affairs, unfortunately. Syria is a mess and one imagines history will show that this administration contributed to it through vacillation and late starting “covert” weapons supply. The Assad father/son tag team is truly evil and guilty of most of the allegations...

Syria: The Asad government continues to insist that it did not use chemical weapons in the attack on 21 August. It approved an extension of the UN inspection team's visit and requested that it investigate three gas attacks against Syrian soldiers since 21 August. Lebanon's Daily Star reported on 26 August that at least four Hizballah fighters are receiving treatment in Beirut after coming into contact with chemical agents in Syria, a security source said. The source said four or five members came into contact with the chemical agents while searching a group of rebel tunnels in the Damascus suburb of Jobar over...

Syrians in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta say Saudi Arabia provided chemical weapons for an Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group which they blame for the August 21 chemical attack in the region, a Mint Press News report says. The article co-authored by a veteran AP reporter, said interviews with doctors, residents, anti-government forces and their families in Ghouta suggest the terrorists in question received chemical weapons via Saudi spymaster Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud. The report quoted the father of a militant as saying that his son and 12 others were killed inside a tunnel used...

Okay Freeper Family, you know President Obama is itching to pull the trigger on Syria to deflect from his failed policies and train wreak administration, but something about all the evidence of a Syrian Government Chemical Attack just does not pass the smell test. Many of you know I am a veterans and here is where I need some of my fellow vets to help me understand something. Mr. Kerry in his push for action stated that less than 1,500 people were killed in a government launched chemical attack, now that is a very low number of deaths from a...

Ok, my feeing is if they used Chem Weapons on their own people, or on any other people for that matter they need to be hit hard. The chips fall where they may. I would error on the side of hitting them too hard instead of too soft. I'm thinking Reagan would have already done it.

Below is the government's assessment of the "Syrian Government’s Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21, 2013." It is exactly as expected, putting the full blame on Assad. What however is absolutely mindblowing is the following: "We have identified one hundred videos attributed to the attack, many of which show large numbers of bodies exhibiting physical signs consistent with, but not unique to, nerve agent exposure. The reported symptoms of victims included unconsciousness, foaming from the nose and mouth, constricted pupils, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing. Several of the videos show what appear to be numerous fatalities with no visible...

What, exactly, would the White House hope to accomplish with an attack on Syria? So far, the answers from the administration have been pretty vague. In an interview with PBS yesterday, Obama said that “if, in fact, we can take limited, tailored approaches, not getting drawn into a long conflict” those actions might serve as “a shot across the bow saying, stop doing this.” Obama further suggested that the limited actions under consideration “may have a positive impact on our national security over the long term and may have a positive impact in the sense that chemical weapons are not...

After the stunning “no” vote in the UK Parliament, President Obama’s “coalition” partners have pretty much dwindled to … France. The British parliament voted late Thursday against military action in Syria, whittling down the core of the planned coalition to the United States and France. Italy and Germany have said they won’t take part in any military action.The British ‘no’ vote raised questions about France’s participation — and ratcheted up pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama, who is also facing domestic skepticism about military intervention in Syria.Amid the resistance, the U.S. administration shared intelligence with lawmakers Thursday aimed at convincing...

"Humane killer" appears to be an oxymoron that startles with contradiction. Yet talking of war is a way of drawing a fine distinction, not a contradiction. The civilized world clarifies an understanding of how a civilized man can kill an enemy while separating human from inhumane. When Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turned poison gas against the rebels and their families, everyone could agree that even in a civil war -- where passions burn hottest -- that's inhumane, and it's not forgivable. The harsh and mechanical reporting of war rarely invites poetry to make a correspondent's points, but a reader with...

A week after accusing Israel of giving Al-Qaeda chemical weapons to use against civilians in Syria, British MP George Galloway was caught lying about his remarks during a debate in Parliament. … On Thursday, during a debate in the British Parliament on whether to take part in a military offensive against Syria, Galloway was challenged by Matthew Offord, a representative of Hendon in North London. Offord said he had received several e-mails from constituents on Galloway’s hateful remarks, then said, “I would find that very hard to believe that the honorable member said that, so would he like to take...