No red lines in Syria

We've been here before. Only three years ago, the first uncorroborated reports suggesting Syrian President Bashar Assad had used chemical weapons on his own people surfaced. This was followed by awkward statements by Washington over the need to review the matter, which was then followed by a halfhearted admission that a red line had been crossed in the Syrian civil war. The "happy" ending to this saga involved a compromise that allowed Assad to remain in power if he "really" surrendered his arsenal of chemical weapons.

Truth be told, even the veterans of the Syrian civil war are struggling to understand why Assad would once again use chemical weapons, as he is alleged to have done against Islamic State operatives east of Damascus last week.

The decision is puzzling because Assad -- backed by Iran and Russia -- clearly has the upper hand in the war. It may be that his defiant nature, and perhaps the euphoria of impending victory and his contempt for the U.S. have made him cross another red line, one of many that have been crossed in the war-torn country over the past five years.

It was only three years ago that we learned that Washington and Moscow concocted a deal meant to guarantee Assad will be stripped of his chemical arsenal.

The deal, formulated after hundreds of people were killed in a chemical weapons attack on two Damascus suburbs in the summer of 2013, allowed Assad to emerge not only unscathed, but with immunity against a future American strike in Syria. After all, the deal may bar Assad from using chemical weapons on his people, but it says nothing of his using his conventional arsenal, including ground-to-ground missiles, aerial strikes, artillery shelling, and chlorine-laced bombs, against the rebels.

Assad and his Iranian and Russian allies have made good use of Washington's hesitance. The strategic city of Aleppo, a prime target for the Syrian military's strikes, is a decimated example of the ruination the Syrian regime has brought upon its people.

A deal born in sin is likely to fail and expose its architects' true colors. If the reports coming out of Syria are true, then Assad has been able to retain some of his chemical arsenal, and he has no qualms putting it to use. Some may find comfort in the fact the target was Islamic State operatives, but who is to stop him from training his sights on his people again-

This is the moment of truth for the American administration, which just three years ago promised the world a Middle East free of chemical weapons. This is more than a test of the deal struck with Assad in 2013 -- this is a test of the nuclear deal with Iran. If Washington cannot make Assad stick to his part of the deal, it is doubtful it would be able to make Iran live up to its part of the nuclear agreement with world powers.

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