A poison gas attack is a war crime: the proper action is to arrest and try the perpetrators

[andym]

A poison gas attack has been defined by the UN as a war crime. What should happen in Syria is that the perpetrators be arrested. Of course, politics being what they are, this could never happen. The US, France and Britain appear unable to get China and Russia to agree on anything that would harm the Assad regime, and Assad himself would be a likely target of such an arrest. However, realpolitik aside, this is what should happen. An attack on Syria's military installations is a poor substitute.

[NuclearDem]

1. "Arrest and try war criminals?"

That phrase is unknown here in the US.

[City Lights]

2. I know, right?

Just last week the DOJ was in court defending our war criminals.

[MoonRiver]

3. Exactly!

Our credibility in that area is exactly zero.

[TwilightGardener]

4. It's a poor substitute, and fraught with all sorts of possible consequences.

And yet...how is it prevented from happening again? What's the punishment if Assad is beyond reach? I would not want to be in Obama's shoes, it is a very difficult situation.

[magical thyme]

6. There is no proof that Assad or the Syrian military even did it.

And our bomb now / ask questions later approach is ensuring that the UN inspectors are unable to remain in country long enough to examine the sites for evidence as to who did it.

There are many groups from other countries and backed by other countries -- not to mention PNAC -- involved in Syria, aside from their home-grown rebels. There is nothing that says they lacked the financing or ability to pull it off in order to set up Assad...or set us up, knowing what oil-greedy war-mongers we are.

[TwilightGardener]

7. 100% conclusive proof might be hard to find, but I don't think Obama has been

eager to bomb Syria--or even intervene. He has resisted calls (until recently) from within his own administration to do so for at least a year. He has been criticized over and over again for "dithering" and "leading from behind" for resisting intervention--and now suddenly he's a Bush2 Warmonger? Obama/Kerry aren't trying to sell an attack by trumping up evidence. They probably genuinely believe the findings point pretty much to Assad's army, and feel there must be a response.

[magical thyme]

8. at this point there is zero proof who did it, other than the "intelligence" of a party with its own

agenda.

[TwilightGardener]

9. I think it's more than zero, but not a hundred percent.

[morningfog]

5. But the actual response will be new war crimes.