Eli Lake worries about Assad's chemical weapons stockpiles:
Obama administration officials say the White House has yet to decide on how it will respond if pro-al-Assad forces use chemical weapons against the Syrian population or a neighboring country. The administration has told senior regime officials that they will be held responsible if they fail to secure chemical weapons.
Ackerman and Shachtman warn that America securing Syria's chemical weapons would be extremely difficult, if not impossible:
The Pentagon estimates that 75,000 troops would be required to secure the chemical stockpiles, a force nearly the size of the one the U.S. fields in Afghanistan.
Wright wishes we could offer Assad "a long and happy life" in exchange for his giving up power and not using chemical weapons on his people:
There's been talk of a "negotiated deal" with Assad, but the number of civilians killed by his regime long ago passed the point where it seemed plausible for such a deal to wind up with him easing gracefully into a pleasant retirement in some nice villa on the Mediterranean. His choice has long seemed to be between continuing to fight and accepting no-frills retirement in a prison cell.
(Photo: A picture taken on July 20, 2012 shows carcasses of burnt-out lorries at the Bab al-Hawa border post with Turkey after it was seized by Syrian rebels following fierce battle with Syrian troops in Bab al-Hawa. Syrian rebels seized control of the Bab Al-Hawa border post with Turkey today after a fierce battle with Syrian troops, an AFP photographer at the scene reported. Some 150 armed rebel fighters were in control of the post, which lies opposite Turkey's Cilvegozu border crossing in the southern province of Hatay. By Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)
The Dish 
