QUESTIONS ABOUT SYRIAN POLICY

Yossef Bodansky raises questions about whether Syrian rebels were behind the gas attack.

There is a growing volume of new evidence from numerous sources in the Middle East — mostly affiliated with the Syrian opposition and its sponsors and supporters — which makes a very strong case, based on solid circumstantial evidence, that the Aug. 21 chemical strike in the Damascus suburbs was indeed a premeditated provocation by the Syrian opposition.

In another column he raises the issue of why Assad would do this based on the consequences he potentially face.

From a strategic point of view, why would he take action that invites — almost demands — Obama to take military action against him when he is in the middle of a violent civil war? 

And there is the issue of why aren't we going after Assad's arms supplier, North Korea, if all of this is true.

Pyongyang is also providing “after-sales services” to Assad, even putting its personnel close to the front lines. North Korean officers, for instance, have been spotted around Aleppo. The location is significant because in mid-March allegations of chemical weapons use near that northern city surfaced.

Pyongyang has been sending chemical weapons experts to Syria since the mid-1990s.