Last week the White House and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons in that nation's civil war, but officials at the White House said they wanted more time to examine the evidence and confirm beyond any doubt that the Syrian leaders had crossed a "red line."
The president originally warned Syria in August of 2012 that chemical weapons would "change my calculus" in terms of U.S. involvement in the Middle Eastern country, where more than an estimated 70,000 people have died since the conflict began in February of 2011.
On Sunday morning the question of what the administration should do now was a leading topic of conversation. Military intervention doesn't appear likely, but what about enforcing a no-fly zone? Is that appropriate? On ABC's This Week, House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers said that the options aren't huge, but some action needs to be taken.
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2013.