Military strikes on Syria 'as early as Thursday,' US officials say

[Cali_Democrat]

By Jim Miklaszewski, Courtney Kube and Erin McClam, NBC News

The U.S. could hit Syria with three days of missile strikes, perhaps beginning Thursday, in an attack meant more to send a message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad than to topple him or cripple his military, senior U.S. officials told NBC News on Tuesday.

The State Department fed the growing drumbeat around the world for a military response to Syria's suspected use of chemical weapons against rebels Aug. 21 near Damascus, saying that while the U.S. intelligence community would release a formal assessment within the week, it was already "crystal clear" that Assad's government was responsible.

White House press secretary Jay Carney repeated Tuesday that the White House isn't considering the deliberate overthrow of Assad.

"The options that we are considering are not about regime change," said during a daily briefing with reporters. "They are about responding to the clear violation of an international standard that prohibits the use of chemical weapons."

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/27/20209022-military-strikes-on-syria-as-early-as-thursday-us-officials-say

[morningfog]

1. Count down to another counter productive act of war.

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. A proportional response... the equivalent of firing a shot across the bow

of a rum runner back in the days when bootleggers anchored Whisky ships off the Coronado Islands, called it Rumrow, in Mexican waters. A shot across the bow that says change your course.

[BeyondGeography]

3. That means tonight or tomorrow