Syria Moves Its Chemical Weapons and Gets Another Warning

    As the conflict between the Syrian government and local rebels continues, the Syrian government has moved some of its chemical weapons to possibly strategic locations, however, it is unclear if they are preparing to use them in the fighting or if they are simply moving stockpiles around.  In response to the movement of the weapons, the United States and other allies sent over another warning to President Bashar al-Asad, that if he uses these weapons or fails to keep them secure, then oustide nations will intervene directly with military forces.  If this happens, the allied nations, ours included, have contingency plans to neutralize the chemical weapons threat, although our troops have not been raised to high alert yet.  The Pentagon believes that it would take more than 75,000 troops to carry out this task.  Politically, the United States has remained neutral by not arming the insurgent groups and not formally recognizing the opposition forces.  An Israeli official says that Assad is probably bluffing to warn the allied coalition as the debates continued over possible direct involvement.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/world/middleeast/syria-moves-its-chemical-weapons-and-gets-another-warning.html?hp