Who Are the Intended Targets of al-Assad's Chemical Weapons

If diplomatic activity is a sign of increasing tension or concern, then we may assume that the world is very tense and concerned about ongoing events in Syria. And well it should be. After almost two years of civil unrest morphing into full-blown civil war - after 40,000 deaths - after the destruction of huge chunks of Syria's infrastrucure now estimated to cost more than $40 billion to replace - after al-Assad regime aerial bombings of rebel-held areas leading to the displacement of more than 1 million Syrian civilians - and finally, after growing evidence that the regime is at least preparing chemical bombs, leading to the logical conclusion that there is, at a minimum, some regime discussion about chemical weapon use......after all of this, dear readers, the world is finally concerned. NATO is placing Patriot missile defense systems along the Turkish side of the Turkish-Syrian border. NATO and the US are openly warning al-Assad about any attack on Turkey or any use of chemical weapons against its own citizens, the "red line" described by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama. But, at the same time, both NATO and America say they will not make incursions into Syrian territory or enforce a no-fly zone to protect civilians in rebel-held areas. Nor will they provide arms or other military equipment to the rebels because, as they describe it, of the fear that the weapons could fall into the hands of extremist elements fighting with the rebels. Dare we point out that had the weapons been provided early on, there would be few or no extremists involved. They are there because of the vacuum created by the west's lack of support for the rebels. But, the world is now concerned...what does this mean? US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Thursday that intelligence reports suggest that an increasingly cornered al-Assad is considering using his chemical weapons arsenal, something that the U.S. and Russia agree is unacceptable. It is for this reason that the Patriot missile systems have been deployed in Turkey, and al-Assad is being frontally warned. Syrian deputy foreign minister Faisel Mekdad said in an interview with Lebanon's Al-Manar TV : "But if they think this will affect our determination and work for a decisive victory in this fight against terrorism, they are very wrong." Mekdad added that the al-Assad regime would never use such arms against its own people....We cannot possibly commit suicide " If we take the Syrian regime's words at face value, we must then ask why the chemical bombs are being readied? Why are NATO and Europe and America so concerned? Why is German Chancellor Angela Merkel making an obvious effort to publicly support Israel during Israeli prime minister Netanyahu's current visit to Berlin? Why did US Senator John McCain actually say this week, for the first time, I believe, that one option for America would be to "go in and take out Assad"? I think the answer is clear. The world is worried about Europe and Israel. Assad may not be ready to turn his chemical bombs against Syrian civilians...but he has not excluded their use against Israeli and European civilians. It seems clear that the world is willing to wait out the domestic endgame between Syrian rebels and the regime...the clean-up will be only a matter of money. But, chemical weapons unleashed against Israeli or European civilians...that is another matter entirely, and al-Assad has been forewarned.