Read our breakdown of President Obama’s “red line” statement here.

The Syrian regime has enlisted the help of Lebanese paramilitary force Hezbollah in their suppression of the rebels. Hezbollah is considered a “foreign terrorist organization” by the US government.

The standard of evidence when it comes to deciding on military action has been disturbingly low since 2001. It all traces back to something known as the “Cheney Doctrine”, a scary bit of risk analysis that even an 8 year old could tell you is ridiculous. During a briefing over evidence in the case against Iraq and WMD’s in 2001, Dick Cheney responded to questions of reliability of intelligence gathered saying,

If there’s a 1% chance that Pakistani scientists are helping al-Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response. It’s not about our analysis …It’s about our response.

Due to this doctrine, which is still followed quite closely, we spent nearly $1 trillion to overthrow one of the last stable dictatorships (which we supported for years) in the middle east, contributed to the deaths of over 150,000 people (80% civilian), and in the process found no evidence of any connection to WMD’s or 9/11. This egregious standard of evidence threatens America’s future more than any terrorist attack ever could.

Remember all this “evidence?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp6WuTSTyS8

The UN puts the figure, as of early June, at 93,000 confirmed deaths, with another 30,000 or so being unable to conclusively verify.

Or laws? Seems weird to just say, “That’s not normal to use human bug spray on people.”

However, it is true that Syria is not a signatory to the UN’s Chemical Weapons Convention.

In his “red line” warning to Assad, President Obama used the careful term “whole bunch” to define the amount which would precipitate US military action.

This is only “small scale” use.

Sarin is colorless and odorless and operates effectively as human bug spray. It is considered a weapon of mass destruction in international law.

Despite the refusal to allow UN inspectors, journalists from the French newspaper Le Monde traveled clandestinely into Syria and witnessed chemical weapon use, according the paper.

The French government conducted tests on samples brought back from the battlefield, concluding that the Syrian regime had indisputably used sarin nerve gas on rebels. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius offered ominously,

A line has been indisputably breached. We will hold talks with our partners on what we must do and all options are on the table,“ to decide "whether to react, including in an armed manner.

Just a few moments later, Rhodes will conclude that US intelligence has definitively determined Sarin nerve gas use, and yet here it’s only “potential use.”

Photo: Syrian rebels preparing for a February attack on the Syrian capital.