Then why is the State Department backing down already?
Post #28 sums it up well.
Reuters Gabriela Baczynska reports: Russia said on Monday it would urge Syria to put its chemical weapons arsenal under international control if this would avert military strikes. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who called a news conference to announce the proposal, said he had already conveyed the idea to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem at talks in Moscow and that Russia expected “a quick and, I hope, a positive answer.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said earlier on Monday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could avoid a U.S. strike by surrendering all his chemical weapons within a week, but immediately made clear he was not making a serious offer.
by Margarita Noriega (Reuters) 9:35
http://live.reuters.com/Event/Syria_9
Good point. That’s a better analysis.