As we wait to see what our unaccountable president decides to do in Syria in response to an alleged use by Syrian government forces of the nerve agent Sarin, it is interesting to watch the White House studiously ignore the use and possession of the same Sarin agent by the people they want us to help: al Qaeda backed rebels.

Back in May the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria determined that the Syrian rebels had used Sarin:

Testimony from victims of the conflict in Syria suggests rebels have used the nerve agent, sarin, a leading member of a UN commission of inquiry has said.

Carla Del Ponte told Swiss TV that there were “strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof”.

Al Qaeda seems to possess Sarin and may be intending to use it destabilize the Turkish frontier with Syria:

Turkish security forces found a 2kg cylinder with sarin gas after searching the homes of Syrian militants from the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front who were previously detained, Turkish media reports. The gas was reportedly going to be used in a bomb.

The sarin gas was found in the homes of suspected Syrian Islamists detained in the southern provinces of Adana and Mersia following a search by Turkish police on Wednesday, reports say. The gas was allegedly going to be used to carry out an attack in the southern Turkish city of Adana.

On Monday, Turkish special anti-terror forces arrested 12 suspected members of the Al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda affiliated group which has been dubbed “the most aggressive and successful arm” of the Syrian rebels. The group was designated a terrorist organization by the United States in December.

If we take off the table that Obama is deliberately trying to hand over a large part of the Middle East to al Qaeda, this, by the way, requires us to ignore his actions in Egypt and Libya (though you should never attribute to malice what can be accounted for by stupidity), then the only possible reason Obama has for attacking the Syrian regime to the benefit of al Qaeda is to attempt to send a message that he is ONE TOUGH HOMBRE.

The latter is actually very likely.

One U.S. official who has been briefed on the options on Syria said he believed the White House would seek a level of intensity “just muscular enough not to get mocked” but not so devastating that it would prompt a response from Syrian allies Iran and Russia.

He’s four years too late to avoid mocking, too bad the rest of us have to wear the dunce’s cap.