Asitimes/Foter.comIt took Chuck Hagel 24 hours to
reverse himself and agree with an Israeli intelligence
assessment that indicated Syria had used chemical weapons against
rebels in the two-year civil war in that country. U.S.
intelligence, he said, had “some degree of varying confidence” that
Syria used chemical weapons on a “small scale.” Not exactly the
aluminum tubes and empty chemical warheads of
the phantom WMD stockpile used to justify the invasion of Iraq
ten years ago. Syria
denies the claim and accuses Syrian rebels of
using chemical weapons instead.

Nevertheless, chemical weapons constitute the red line Barack
Obama and many Western leaders drew on intervention in Syria. John
McCain and Dianne Feinstein
are leading a bipartisan push for a “strong” intervention as a
response to the chemical weapons allegations, echoing
the call of the Western-backed rebel faction in Syria.

A “soft” intervention in Syria by the West’s long started,
evidenced by the existence of a Western-backed rebel faction in
Syria itself. Earlier this week, the European Union
eased sanctions on Syria to permit the purchase of oil from
rebels. The Socialist president in France, fresh off an ongoing
military intervention in Mali, is
leading the push in Europe to arm Syria’s rebels, and says his
country will do so. The British government, itching too to provide
more support to rebel groups in Syria, is nevertheless
worried British nationals are joining extremists in the fight
in Syria. Al-Qaeda in Iraq
has joined too, which led to
the CIA stepping up its role in Iraqi counterterrorism last
month. Last week, the U.S. announced an
additional $110 million in aid to Syria’s rebels (on top of at
least
$60 million pledged in February and
$45 million last September, plus covert aid authorized
sometime last summer).

The U.S. is also deploying troops to Jordan (price
tag: $70 million) and has sent military advisors to the country
in relation to the rebellion in Syria. Embattled Syrian officials

warn increased American intervention and support for the rebels
(which the regime identifies as terrorists) will lead to a “fire of
terrorism” spreading around the world.