How much poison gas does Assad have to use to cross Obama's red line?

President Obama says that Syria "likely" has used chemical weapons on a "small" scale, most likely sarin gas. This puts Assad's regime across a red line drawn by the Obama administration. However, Obama has stopped short of taking action despite Assad's brutality.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Obama administration has backed down from a solemn pledge to support Syria's rebels, should they or innocent civilians become victims of Assad's poison gas. With this the Obama administration flushes the last of its international credibility and the American tradition of supporting emerging democracies.

Within the last 24 hours, according to the White House, Obama has been made aware that Assad's forces have deployed sarin gas against rebels and civilians, but on a "small scale." Despite pledges of substantive support should Assad cross this "red line" Obama appears to be backing down.

Instead, Obama claims that these "intelligence assessments" need to be supported by "hard facts" and that Obama is "pressing for a comprehensive United Nations investigation that can credibly evaluate the evidence and establish what took place."

What a joke.

Those hard facts already exist. The administration is choosing to ignore them. The administration admits in its letter on the subject, "we cannot confirm how the exposure occurred and under what conditions."

"We believe that the Assad regime maintains custody of these weapons, and has demonstrated a willingness to escalate its horrific use of violence against the Syrian people," the letter continues.

As if it should matter. How much gas does Assad need to use? How many contorted bodies does he need to see before he acts?

The civil war in Syria has cost over 70,000 lives and although Assad remains on the ropes, the rebels do not have the material or support they need to finish him off. Meanwhile, conflict rages, an influx of radical militant Islamic fighters is threatening to pervert the revolution, and millions are in danger of imminent starvation or death by violent means, including chemical weapons.

The entire world has failed the innocent people of Syria by dallying and debating rather than indicting Assad and ordering his arrest and deploying the forces needed to accomplish it. In an effort to prevent loss of allied life, we continue to sacrifice the lives of tens of thousands of civilians.

It gets worse.

As Obama flinches in the face of Assad, the leaders of other nations, including Iran and North Korea watch. Terrorists watch from their darkened corners of the world.

At a moment when strong leadership was solemnly promised, Obama runs with his tail between his legs, hiding behind false skepticism and a need for "hard facts." Are not 70,000 dead souls, nearly half belonging to children, enough?

What standard of evidence will Obama need to respond to aggression in North Korea or Iran? Will a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv or Seoul suffice as "hard evidence?"

With his freshest failure, Obama has figuratively wet himself and run whimpering from the two-bit dictator cowering in the hills of Syria.

Just imagine what the rest of the world's leaders are thinking today.

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