That does not explain all of the lies.
Two drones were overhead.
Those things are armed.
One missile would have eliminated the mortar position.
There is something big big big behind this.
Maybe arming militia to fight Syria, maybe something else.
I think something much more.
My spidey-sense is that this whole situation was planned by the terrorists on the ground, but the administration saw an opportunity to spin it into an invitation for government censorship. Otherwise, why would the “movie” line be pushed so hard so fast by the administration?
I was once told by an Admiral, a quote from Patton, “when in command, COMMAND.”
Instead of commanding, they were probably focused on how they could spin it for their own agenda. Thus, the mess on the ground that occurred because they were not actually concerned with taking command of the situation, but spinning it to their agenda.