Did Pres. Obama make the case for military action?

On the eve of the 9-11 anniversary, President Obama laid out an emotional case for a new military action. During the majority of his 17-minute speech from the East Room of the White House, the President tried to address the concerns of opponents to a Syria strike. President Obama argued that although Syria poses no direct threat to the United States, a military response to the use of chemical weapons is in our “national interest.” He said that our nation has an “exceptional” responsibility to punish nations that use weapons of mass destruction, and he asserted that we “know” the Assad regime was behind the attacks.
In addition to laying out his reasons for military action, President Obama made an emotion appeal to those who oppose the strike. He invoked the Holocaust and World War I, and said, “What kind of world will we live in if the United States of America sees a dictator brazenly violate international law with poison gas and we choose to look the other way?” However, the President did call on Congress to postpone a vote on military action, in light of a possible diplomatic resolution.
Despite his best efforts, it's unlikely that the President swayed many opinions in his favor. Reviews from lawmakers after the speech were as wide-ranging as they were before the address. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, “The president justly made clear tonight that the threat of military action remains on the table.” And, Senator Chuck Grassley said, “I don't think the case for military action has been made.”
As our nation commemorates the somber day that nearly 3,000 Americans lost their lives, we must consider the fact that we're still at war more than a decade later. Regardless of whether diplomatic efforts in Syria are successful, many continue to ask whether we should be starting yet another war.
Comments


Quote Hartmann:Quote Obama:“What kind of world will we live in if the United States of America sees a dictator brazenly violate international law with poison gas and we choose to look the other way?”
"a dictator" or "a country"? Doesn't matter....the US, as a dictatorial country, has violated international law many times.. Agent Orange and Napalm in Vietnam, depleted uranium and white phosphorus in Iraq. And their partner in crime, Israel, dropped white phosphorous over 200 times from helicopters on Gaza civilians. White Phosphorus rapidly burns right to the bones.
Obama, or any other US leader seeking war, has absolutely no right to take the high moral ground here. They have long lost their credibility. They have no more credibility or justification than Hitler did. It's time Americans called out these war criminals and prosecute them for war crimes!

Thom,
If you haven't yet listened to Amy Goodman today, you must. Noam Chomsky hits it out of the park re. Syria and the US's history of aggression. Listening to him convinced me all the more, that if the Democrats are not in bed with the plutocrats along with the Republicans, they at the very least have knives in their backs. Changing either party from within would be like joining the Mafia with the hopes of cleaning it up. Peaceful, non-violent revolution, ready and waiting with solutions when the system collapses is our only hope. Tag, We're all it! Thanks for the WW-I lesson yesterday, fascinating.

If you haven't seen Noam Chomsky on Democracynow.org today, you must.

Nothing will change, however, if Americans continue to believe that 9/11 was not an inside job...a false flag..carried out by powerful Neocon insiders who have since made cowards of everyone who continues to buy the official government conspiracy theory. And the subsequent lies that took away many of our freedoms and liberties.That mass murdered many civilians that didn't deserve to die.
Those scenes of dead bodies in the Syria chemical attack... jerking bodies... horrible scenes to be sure... were not really censored like scenes of carnage that the US military did in Iraq and Afghanista and Pakistan and Yemen. You didn't see those scenes because the US major media propagandists didn't want you to see them. It would have shown these mass murdering war criminals for what they really are...mass murdering war criminals!
Until we hold these traitor war mongers, especially the ones that planned and engineered 9/11, accountable and put away for good we all will continue to be victims of the ruling elite. Nothing will change except more wars and a tightening of the noose around the necks of the majority of American citizens.
What "surprises" are in store for us...what new false flags will they think of next to further our obeisance to the Neocon furor's rapacious greed of wealth and power? I think we just saw one last month in Syria and we don't yet know what will be the real outcome of that...disarm Syria of their chemical weapons, making it easier for a US invasion, perhaps...like in Iraq? Making it easier for Al Qaida to overthrow the Assad regime, perhaps? What about all the chemical weapons that Saudi Arabia has been supplying the rebels..Al Qaida? Will the US block that? How are they going to find all the stockpiles that either side really has?
The experts say that Sarin gas is not so hard to make! All they need is a little knowledge in chemistry, access to a few chemicals that are readily available over the internet, perhaps, some rudimentary, makeshift lab equipment...like an exhaust hood and safety equipment to keep from killing oneself in the process of making it.
Unfortunately, there are probably more than a few crazies, right here in the US, that could do such a thing. Right after 911, there was the anthrax mailings. There was the Boston Marathon bombings. And there were other acts of violence like the many mass shootings by "lone nuts?". Many, or all of which, are highly suspect in a level of complicity by someone higher up the chain who had the motive, the means, and the opportunity to do a Manchurian Candidate MKULTRA operation on some poor dupe(s). What are they putting in YOUR medications? If they can remotely hijack planes and cars they can sure mess with what is in your medications. What is in MY medications, you may ask (or maybe not)...if I said I don't take medications anymore...some may say..."maybe you should be taking medications". ;-0 I've never had to take psychotropic meds anyway...

Sandlewould: Thanks for the tip...and I like reading and listening to Noam Chomsky!

The minute Bush's ear received the whisper and I saw the look on his face, I knew in my gut it was an inside job, I just couldn't fathom at the time, why...nor could I have dreamed of such a complex and far reaching web of Evil. I think it's '9/11, Quest for Truth' that details a journalist's time line of the knowledge of the use of planes, as well as following the money. So many unanswered questions, and many that have been answered and scilenced by MSM. The US as a baby nation, (only 235 years old) is like a child...too naive to believe that Empire can, and would not hesitate to do whatever it takes to control & corrupt politicians in order to remain in power and make $$$

Food For Thought
Fact one: Some group in Syria, be it members of the government, disgruntled groups of non-secular citizenry, rebels, terrorists or "Special Interest" mercenaries just used chemical weapons on 1,400 innocent men, women, and children in order to provoke a war with the United States.
Fact two: This group has neither been identified, apprehended, found guilty, or incarcerated yet.
Fact three: This group is still running around free somewhere in or around Syria; still, with the same agenda.
THE BIG QUESTION: What are the lives of a few more visiting diplomats or innocent civilians after one murders over 1,000 innocent people and fails to achieve their ends?
How are we going to ensure that another false flag doesn't occur before all the chemical weapons are rounded up?

Quote Palindromedary:"a dictator" or "a country"? Doesn't matter....the US, as a dictatorial country, has violated international law many times.. Agent Orange and Napalm in Vietnam, depleted uranium and white phosphorus in Iraq. And their partner in crime, Israel, dropped white phosphorous over 200 times from helicopters on Gaza civilians. White Phosphorus rapidly burns right to the bones.Obama, or any other US leader seeking war, has absolutely no right to take the high moral ground here. They have long lost their credibility. They have no more credibility or justification than Hitler did. It's time Americans called out these war criminals and prosecute them for war crimes!
Palindromedary ~ You are so right, my friend. In fact Dennis Kucinich put together a nice collage of just that fact on his facebook page. Just scroll down to the photo titled C4. Here is a direct link to the image URL:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1187227_10151680351638218_515760812_n.jpg
(you may have to cut and paste that one)
We have no business "throwing stones" at other countries. Let the nation that is without sin cast the first missile.

Sandlewould ~ Thanks for that heads up about Noam Chomsky. Very informative. A must see for everyone. Here is a direct link for the interview:
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/11/chomsky_instead_of_illegal_threat_to?autostart=true
Thom should play excerpts of this interview in his program.

Noam and Amy Goodman - "I know let's just all hold hands near the White House and somehow end war", while at that very same moment:
Bashar al-Assad is flinging SCUD missiles into Aleppo all the way from Damascus. They are legendary for hitting targets at random becoming acts of terror. The unlucky are obliterated while eating dinner.
Incredible rates of shelling are maintained into rebel areas, all thanks to Russian shipments of munitions, all on credit!
Vladimir Putin's persecution of the LGBT community is conveniently ignored while protesting any military action against his propped up despot Assad.

His case for intervention is same old sickening, pathetic excuse we've been hearing for 50 years, one that's based on lies, like all the others. The public's response, so far, fortunately, shows that we're starting to get it. Obama is just another puppet of the Power Elite. How sad that I voted for him, but then I had no other choice,

Hey tomcalwriter1 Obama was the lesser of the two evils we had to choose from. Imagine if we had Romney in right now, the forces would already be invading...I still hold out hope that this hard line by President Obama is just his way of forcing the resolution to be done diplomatically. I think he is playing chess with Congress, Syria and Russia as he has put the future in their hands while keeping all options open. We will know his true colors if Congress votes no to a military strike and he still strikes Syria. I agree that the public is starting to get it, but when I hear that 29% of the people in Louisiana blame Obama for the handling of the relief efforts after Katrina, I wonder about this country's future. Cross our fingers and hope everyone!!

Thanks for your commentary, Thom, which I read regularly.
I had a problem with your closing sentence yesterday, however:
"Dropping bombs is not the only way to resolve a conflict."
Surely this should read "Dropping bombs is not a way to resolve conflict."
I groan every time I hear the trite phrase "winning hearts and minds", because you can't win hearts and minds while you believe in "shock and awe" and "war on terror"...
Last point: How many innocents - including children - have illegal daily US drone strikes killed? Thousands. So trying to take the moral high ground on any weapons rings very hollow.

How did "hope and change" turn into "the same old poop". Obama is repeating excatly what Bush said. Here we go again.
Can someone explain to me what the UN is for, if it isn't this. Let the world come together and make the call. Don't you Americans ever get tired of getting the blame for everything. You know this is going to get real bad somehow.

Kend ~ You're 100% right. You should listen to the Noam Chomsky interview linked to above. Basically Chomsky says that the U.S. is responsible for breaking UN international law every time it uses force, or threatens to use force against another country. There is a reason all countries are prohibited from using or threatening to use military force. That is why the law is in the UN charter. The UN has failed to hold the US accountable for multiple violations of this international law.
Today, a UN resolution was reached that finds all sides in the Syrian conflict guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. A little tidbit conveniently left out of President Obama's speech. No military attack is going to remedy this situation.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/09/201391181352433623.html
In fact, any military attack by the US is only going to make the situation worse; as well as, pose the risk for WWIII. We must step aside in this matter and stop violating international law. We have to let the UN determine the course of action in this matter; or, like you've suggested, what are they good for?

MMmmNACHOS, DAnneMarc: In reply to yesterday.......After a 1996 mass shooting, Australia passed gun laws that have prevented anymore mass shootings since......look it up. That said, another intended point was.....Why does Obama think he can take on middle eastern problems in support of big oil when he can't even temper the gun manufacturers and their lobby known as the NRA here at home.
By the way, I grew up with guns, still own a small cannon which I fire on July 4th, among other things. I live in a rural setting where they say gun control is the ability to hit your target. One of my neighbors comes home drunk at two in the morning and often feels the urge at that time to discharge his assault weapon in his backyard, when he's not in jail that is. Hell it's like being in Syria for just a moment in the middle of the night. Anyway, I just don't get the assault weapons thing, sorry.

Quote 2950-10K:MMmmNACHOS, DAnneMarc: In reply to yesterday.......After a 1996 mass shooting, Australia passed gun laws that have prevented anymore mass shootings since......look it up.
Very well!
Australian Gun Laws:Quote Wikipedia:State laws govern the possession and use of firearms in Australia. These laws were largely aligned under the 1996 National Firearms Agreement (NFA). Anyone wishing to possess or use a firearm must have a Firearms Licence and, with some exceptions, be over the age of 18. Owners must have secure storage for their firearms.Before someone can buy a firearm, he or she must obtain a Permit To Acquire. The first permit has a mandatory 28-day delay before it is first issued. In some states (e.g., Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales), this is waived for second and subsequent firearms of the same class. For each firearm a "Genuine Reason" must be given, relating to pest control, hunting, target shooting, or collecting. Self-defense is not accepted as a reason for issuing a license, even though it may be legal under certain circumstances to use a legally held firearm for self-defense.[2]
Each firearm in Australia must be registered to the owner by serial number. Some states allow an owner to store or borrow another person's registered firearm of the same category.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Australia
2950-10K ~ I totally agree! Great idea! I thought I said that already. What I also said was this will not solve the problem in the United States. The United States and Australia are apples and oranges. We can enact this legislation in this country--and I do believe we should--however, without addressing the fact that we have untreated severely mentally ill people walking the streets, and a raging black market overflowing in cheap firearms of all kinds, innocent people will still be at risk. It's a simple fact!
Rearranging our priorities to take care of our ill people, and restricting the manufacture of guns, along with the gun control legislation of which you speak would make me feel alot safer. Afterall, we register and license cars don't we?
Let's go ahead and do it. Afterall, it is the responsible thing to do. But lets also address all the other issues at the same time.

How can we continue with the massive cost of killing people in other countries, when we can't even afford programs like meals on wheels at home? Diplomacy is much less expensive and it's the right thing to do.
Nationalization of energy would end most of these killing for profit problems.

DAnneMarc: I don't disagree, but good luck getting the funding for treatment of the mentally ill. Here in New York our governor has been busy privatizing and union busting in this category. His initiatives have caused the release from secure facilities of many problematic individuals back into our communities. There has already been a murder in NYC as a direct result of this recent trend. It's all about tax cuts for those who don't need them, union busting, and really just a Teabag austerity mentality. The rich don't have enough yet!

President Obama made a statement, albeit a shallow statement, for military intervention. What is more impressive is the outstanding intervention of the progressive movement to move President Obama to seek negotiations. I like Rep. Alan Grayson's statements that we progressives had a great influenece on this outcome and it's timeline...

Quote 2950-10K:DAnneMarc: I don't disagree, but good luck getting the funding for treatment of the mentally ill. Here in New York our governor has been busy privatizing and union busting in this category. His initiatives have caused the release from secure facilities of many problematic individuals back into our communities. There has already been a murder in NYC as a direct result of this recent trend.
2950-10K ~ I'm so sorry to hear that. I though even the Republicans have wised up about that Ronald Wilson (666) Reagan spawn disaster by now. Like the big apple needs more "problematic" individuals on the streets. Bloomberg should be ashamed of himself. Obviously he holds his citizenry in contempt. He should have to take a walk through central park every evening unescorted. I hope you manage to vote that fool out of office the next chance you get. I guess we still have a long way to go. Watch your back; and, take care!

Listening to Thom now. I can't believe he still believes that Ben Laden was responsible for the events of 911. Please Thom interview Richard Gage of Architect and Engineers for 911 truth(www.ae911truth.org). The 911 truth must be revealed otherwise the attacks on MiddleEast nations and Arabs and Muslims will continue.

Yes, Clownes! A&E for 911 Truth
From Peter B Collins website, an interview with Richard Gage and Pam Senzee on Building 7. And the campaign and website: rethink911.org
"Gage is a tireless advocate for a scientific approach to the study of the World Trade Center site, and describes himself as a Reagan Republican who grew skeptical of the 9/11 story after hearing an interview with David Ray Griffin and founded Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, which now has over 2,000 endorsers. Pamela Senzee is an activist who bicycled cross country in 2012 to educate people about these issues, and is coordinating a media campaign for Re-Think 9/11, which is supported by a wide coalition.
"Gage recaps the critical factors of the unexplained collapse of WTC building 7 at 5:20 pm on 9/11, which was ignored by the 9/11 Commission and the media. And we discuss how people resist believing the clear evidence because it leads to unthinkable concepts of how it could have happened, and who caused it. In particular, Rachel Maddow at MSNBC ridicules the skeptics of the 9/11 story and characterizes objective investigation into this taboo topic as “crazy”."
Also: be sure to visit truth-teller Sibel Edmonds' Boiling Frogs Post to read her article "The Little Terriorists vs the Real Big Terrorists."

Not at all! It was a very poor, unbelievable, and contradictory speech.

I was going to reference the same point and ask, when do we start bombing ourselves?

batteredup ~ As the old saying goes--people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Obama's speech did make a good case for military action...
That is, for the rest of the world against the United States.

Not impressed by Obama's speech. So I think we are on the same page about that.
Obama filled his speech with misinformation and lies, evidently seeking to give this misinformation and lies the credibility of the Presidential Office. Disgusting.
This speech -- full of JINGOISM to encourage Americans to join in the war-mongering -- is as sickening as Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech in which he bizarrely promoted the "just war" philosophy!
What I saw was a free market corporatist selling war using the same template that has been used by war profiteers for generations. More about that template here: http://www.thomhartmann.com/users/nora/blog/2013/09/obama-using-same-old...

If one READS the speech, it is clear Obama takes the position that there is no need to sell his war on Syria because he maintains he can have it without anyone's approval! The part about going to Congress is spoken in an in-your-face insult -- and going to Congress is only a P.R. ploy to make it APPEAR that this is still a representative government in a democratic republic. A RUDE JOKE, in my view.
The following two paragraphs are from the transcript of that part of Obama's speech (in brackets are my comments)--
This is not a world we should accept. This is what's at stake. And that is why, after careful deliberation, I determined that it is in the national security interests of the United States to respond to the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons through a targeted military strike. [OBAMA HERE INDICATES HE WILL DEPLOY HIS 600 CRUISE MISSILES AND UNTOLD BOMBS ON THE HEADS OF THE SYRIAN PEOPLE. HE'S INDICATING HE DOES NOT REQUIRE ANYONE'S APPROVAL.] The purpose of this strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons, to degrade his regime's ability to use them and to make clear to the world that we will not tolerate their use. That's my judgment as commander in chief.
But I'm also the president of the world's oldest constitutional democracy. So even though I possessed the authority to order military strikes, I believed it was right, in the absence of a direct or imminent threat to our security, to take this debate to Congress. I believe our democracy is stronger when the president acts with the support of Congress, and I believe that America acts more effectively abroad when we stand together. [HE INDICATES HERE THAT HE IS SEEKING APPROVAL ONLY FOR THE APPEARANCES OF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC, BUT NOT THE SUBSTANCE OF THAT REPUBLIC. DISGUSTING. THIS IS LIKE AN EPISODE OF "KEEPING UP APPEARANCES", WHERE THE MAIN CHARACTER PRONOUNCES HER NAME 'BOUQUET' INSTEAD OF 'BUCKET' -- EMPTY, MEANINGLESS GIBBERISH. EXCEPT PREZ OBABA IS AIMING HIS GIBBERISH AT THE UNIFORMED AND THE IMBEDDED MEDIA FLUNKIES.]
- See more at: http://www.thomhartmann.com/users/nora/blog/2013/09/obama-using-same-old-imperialist-template-speech-transcript-link#comment-230493

@Kend
"same old poop"
You said it. The entire world was fooled by Obama - he was the perfect corporatist puppet. His links to the banksters are now legendary and methinks he is about to put Larry Summers in charge of the private bankster money printing presses, i.e. the Fed. The same man who helped fuel the financial crisis...
http://www.gregpalast.com/larry-summers-and-the-secret-end-game-memo/
My prediction is that Obama will get a job with Goldman Sachs - just like that lesser corporate peon, Tony Blair, now works for JPMorgan.

Thanks Palindromedary, Sandlewould & DeAnneM. I can't wait to get Kevin Ryan's new book "Another Nineteen."
And thank you, Thom, for hosting this blog.

http://www.google.com/m?q=the+grand+game+chessboard
Highlight & search^ [elites need to control "greater eurasia" in order to have world domination into the 21st century. Seig Heil!]

http://www.takeoverworld.info/grandchessboard.html
You know, the President stopped over in Sweden, on his way to the G20 Summit and his talk with the Communist KGB guy, Putin. Zbigniew Brzezinski's son, Dr. Mark Brzezinski is now the Ambassador to Sweden. There's something rotten in Denmark...

By the way, did anyone notice the strange "glare" in the President's eyes during the speech? Not to say that he appeared, "possessed by evil" as much as he appeared unusually and extremely angry--almost enraged? Hard to say exactly; but, for sure his demeanor just didn't seem right. Perhaps it was just my imagination?

What's there to get, 2950-10k!?!? The name pretty much sums it up; Assault Riffle.
Now if what you mean to say is that you do not understand why anyone feels the need to own an Assault Riffle...You'll have to talk to pro gun people; especially those who own Assault Riffles. However, I have a feeling that no matter their answer...It won't be good enough for you.
I am very well aware of Australia's Gun Laws, as well as their superior Universal Health Care System. I have family that has lived in Australia for the past 40 years. Three of them are American and maintain dual citizenship.
Though I agree with your concern for quilling the gun violence here in the U.S...The U.S. is not Australia, and by that I mean that you cannot cherry pick other countries policies without understanding and embracing their philosophies as a whole.
Australia's philosophy to life is based on living a healthy, happy, and prosperous life, and by prosperous I mean beyond annual income.
Australia ranks among the top 5 countries out of 30 for mandating payed time off from work. The U.S. doesn't even place. In Australia the minimum payed time off is 15 working days + all nationally recognized holidays. My sister who works in Child & Familey Services receives 35 payed days off + all national holidays per year. My brother, who works in tourism receives 20 days + all national holidays off per year. Though Austrailians pay more in taxes, their wages on average are higher, more intune with the cost of living, than the United States, they have affordable Education and their Universal Health Care System is one that also includes preventative care, maternaty leave, and mental health care. They do have private Hospitals but the majority of Australians don't go to them. They have perfected "socialized medicine"...In other words the anti-Univerasl Health Insurance propaganda horror stories we hear about, i.e. having to wait 6+ months for treatment are just...Well..."Anti-Universal health Insurance" and not true.
The point is, is that Australians in general, are about embracing life, living life, and respecting life. Americans...Not so much. Our "Cheap Throw Away Commercial Culture" and its ideology of "by any means necessary...The ends justify the means...Profit before people" is an undeniable testimate to our own demise.
It's not just the guns...More it's the greedy unhealthy attitude of Americans in general.

michaelmoore052 ~ I read that synopsis of Brzezinski's book... It makes sense; though, somewhat disturbing. The final comment, however, left me wondering what he was talking about:
Between Two Ages: Americas Role In The Technetronic EraQuote Brzezinski:The following statement was made more than twenty-five years ago in a book by Brzezinski which he wrote while a professor at Columbia University:"Political strategists are tempted to exploit research on the brain and human behavior. Geophysicist Gordon J.F. MacDonald, a specialist in problems of warfare, says accurately-timed, artificially-excited electronic strokes could lead to a pattern of oscillations that produce relatively high power levels over certain regions of the earth ... in this way one could develop a system that would seriously impair the brain performance of very large populations in selected regions over an extended period"
" ... no matter how deeply disturbing the thought of using the environment to manipulate behavior for national advantages, to some, the technology permitting such use will very probably develop within the next few decades."
http://www.takeoverworld.info/grandchessboard.html
"...seriously impair the brain performance of very large populations..." Talk about crimes against humanity!
Could you or someone elaborate on that comment please. That is, could this be the real purpose of the project known as HAARP? It sure would explain some of our elections.
It definitely explains the Red States.

I will be glad when this whole Syria situation is resolved.
I don't agree with Thom Hartmann. I think these attacks on Obama are unfair. I think everyone did a knee-jerk reaction out of fear of war, and have not given this any logical thought. The lies spread by the right wing, Putin, Assad, and every other enemy of America have collectively clouded the facts, and that cloud, combined with fear and shame left from the Bush Administration has obscured judgement.
I miss the show, but I feel like I'm listening to Limbaugh on the issue of Syria.

Yes, IF you mean Thom is a mush-headed blithering idiot.
I happen to agree completely with that because Thom still believes the obvious - that 'Assad would be crazy to gas people with U.N. Inspectors in the same area". Assad is a monster, not an idiot, he counted on everyone buying that spin in order to blame the "terrorists" (outraged former Syrian Army mostly).

Quote Yu Ban:Yes, IF you mean Thom is a mush-headed blithering idiot.I happen to agree completely with that because Thom still believes the obvious - that 'Assad would be crazy to gas people with U.N. Inspectors in the same area". Assad is a monster, not an idiot, he counted on everyone buying that spin in order to blame the "terrorists" (outraged former Syrian Army mostly).
Yu Ban ~ Two things I disagree with. First, Thom might not always be right; but, then who is? He is no idiot. Daily he demonstrates in everything he does a genuine desire to improve the world. He also shows a vast knowledge of that world. Thom has traveled extensively and met many people in and out of government. As such he has a greater familiarity of how government works then most of us. Obviously you haven't been listening to the show recently because Thom on more than one occasion stated that he DOES NOT think that Assad is responsible for the gas attack and that it would be more reasonable to suspect the rebels in response to President Obama's "Red Line" statement/threat.
Second I disagree with your assertion that Assad is a "monster". I don't know if you had a chance to listen to or read the transcript of the latest RT interview with Assad but if you get an opportunity I suggest you do so.
http://rt.com/news/assad-interview-exclusive-syria-265/
In the interview Assad gives the impression of a sincere leader who has extremely serious problems and is very concerned over his own citizens. Assad contends that what is happening in his country is not a civil war; but rather random attacks from external terrorists. He claims that his job of protecting his citizens is his primary concern; but, it is difficult because the terrorists attack them first and then hide behind them. He also said that he could eliminate the terrorists completely and end the war in a few months if external sources stopped supplying weapons, ammunition's, supplies and resources to the terrorists. Blockading Syrian borders and cutting off the supplies to the terrorist would be the best solution to this problem. Then Syria can have a chance to resolve its own problem without outside interference. As far as Assad is concerned, he will be up for election again next year. I say lets help him eliminate the terrorists now, and let the people decide if they still want him in office next year. I think we as Americans need to stop labeling people we don't know and start listening to both sides of the story. The mainstream media is not our friend.

If you have enough time to prepare you can make anything sound good but talk is cheap. There is still the U.N. report that concludes that the chemical weapons were most likely fired by the rebels, and thus, most likely by the C.I.A. as they are who is arming the rebels - much like with the Mujahadeen of Afghanistan . If Obama really wants to be George Bush he'll ignore or misconstrue that.
Obama said - roughly, "We can't right every wrong in the world.". You must understand that as, "We (the U.S. government) only cares about human rights violations that occur atop of large oil reserves and in the path of important pipelines so they can serve as a pretext for regime change of an uncooperative host government." That is clearly the basis for the selectivity of response.

Right on, Mark Saulys!
Today, Abby Martin on RT Breaking the Set interviewed Paul Ryan and talked about his new book.
Kevin Robert Ryan's new book "The Other 19" ...
And if you want more..just go to Kevin Ryan's blog website:
http://www.digwithin.net
And here is the blog specifically about the new book "The Other 19"
http://digwithin.net/2013/06/14/new-book/