For the purposes of this diary, I make 3 stipulations: First, that this is a gruesome spectrum, second, that this type of judgment is more visceral than logical, and third, that both incidents actually happened as described in the media.
I saw the film (link to graphic film) - as much as was shown on CNN - of the apparent summary execution of Syrian soldiers by rebels, and naturally started comparing this atrocity with the alleged August 21 chemical attack by Assad's regime on a rebel-held suburb of Damascus.
I've always been reluctant to include artillery-delivered chemical weapons in the 'WMD' grouping because, while they are terrible, their effect isn't orders of magnitude greater than a normal artillery attack. Yes, 1,400 people were killed in one attack, but a sustained barrage of regular artillery will eventually kill as many or more.
Drop a small nuke (witness Hiroshima or Nagasaki) and kill 100,000 people - a large nuke can kill 10 times that many. Spread some weaponized anthrax in an NFL stadium right before a game and you'll likely kill 25,000 or more. By contrast, even the Iraqi sarin (and conventional) attack at Halabja in 1988 'only' killed 5,000 in a city of 70,000.
The use of chemical weapons - especially against civilians, even in a war zone - is a heinous act, but for me it pales in comparison to summarily executing enemy soldiers captured on the battlefield. As a former soldier, watching that film clip filled me with a combination of dread and anger.
That is such an egregious breach of any standard of civilized behavior that I cannot support our nation associating itself with the people who committed it in any fashion. I've been on the fence about our getting involved in the Syrian civil war, and at least for now, that is enough to push me into the non-involvement camp.
I'm sure there are plenty of atrocities on all sides of this war, and sometimes we have to accept that 'our' side isn't perfect. But this isn't 'our' side - yet - and if this is how the rebels are soliciting our support, they shouldn't get it.
Let's keep our service members safe and our powder dry until we have a good reason to get involved.