The Obama administration announced yesterday that it has proof that the government of Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons in Syria, killing between 100 and 150 people. But the civilian death toll for the civil war since its beginning is close to 100,000 and probably higher.

An average of 5,000 Syrians are dying per month in the conflict, which is worse violence in terms of numbers than Iraq in the depths of its sectarian civil war during its American occupation.

Why was the use of chemical weapons declared to be a red line? Do you trust the American government’s declaration after the false pretext we offered for invading Iraq?