Rebel numbers are estimated at 70,000 to 100,000.

The last figure for the size of the military was 280,000.

The population of Syria is 23 million. There is a bustling and normal Syria which is somewhat unaffected by the day to day hubbub of the civil war. Damascus for example has been isolated from the war until we just now decided to get involved.

NATO asserts that after two years of war and hate, 70% of the population is siding with Assad. They want the comfort of certainty. And we are likely to remove their chances of that.

So why “now” get involved just because 1400 out of over 100,000 victims were killed in a different manner?

Bowswer’s pointed out that we pretty much didn’t care about the effects of firebombing or the after effects of the A bombs. Putting rules to war, something that’s brutally insane anyway, has never made sense to me. Hell, we used to line up on the battlefield and wait until everyone was ready. The only benefit was, we had a concrete enemy. Not factions and ghost insurgencies. No question of whether or not we’re arming our enemies.

Or supporting them.