Recent events have upped the chances of a U.S.-backed invasion of Syria tenfold, American reporters said on Monday.
By and large, it seems the White House is shifting from being opposed to storming Syria, to considering potentially getting involved, after officials received word of chemical weaponry used by Assad's forces, and that two inspectors from the U.N. were shot at upon entering Damascus.
On Monday morning, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Reuters that America would only take action in Syria if other members of the international community agreed on unified, seamless movement.
"The United States is looking at all options regarding the situation in Syria," he said. "We're working with our allies and the international community. We are analyzing the intelligence. And we will get the facts. And if there is any action taken, it will be concert with the international community and within the framework of legal justification."
But that was before a couple other choice events went down in Syria.
First, the question of chemical weapon use by Assad's forces-a move that President Obama said would be a "red line" for the U.S.-has now almost certainly been answered.
A US administration official said that he had "very little doubt" that the Ba'athist regime led by Bashar al-Assad opened up chemical warfare on a rebel camp-an attack that left at least one hundred citizens dead last week.
In his Monday afternoon speech, Secretary of State John Kerry said that chemical weapons use was "unedniable," according to the New York Times.
This put pressure on President Obama-who, despite having questioned the ability and use of American military intervention in Syria, met with leaders of his biggest army allies, Britain and France.
According to the BBC, there are currently three U.S. warships in the Middle Eastern country, and another one is on its way.
Secondly, a United Nations chemical weapons inspection team sent to the Syrian frontlines to take a look at the scene of the attack came under sniper fire while en route.
Although they completed the first day of inspection without a hitch thereafter, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon told NBC, the team started out on a dangerous foot.
A six-car convoy was allegedly "deliberately" shot at while making its way through Moadamiyeh, a western suburb of Syria's capital.
The vehicles were stopped at a checkpoint between rebel-controlled lands.
According to the Associated Press, rebel forces called this the regime's try at "[intimidating] the U.N. team and [preventing] it from discovering the truth about Assad's chemical weapons attack against civilians."
With more fire being opened up on American governmental officials and an increasingly large amount of pressure being pushed down upon the White House, some believe U.S. involvement in the Syrian crisis could be on the horizon.
Meanwhile, Reuters and Ipsos's latest poll on whether the American government should intervene in Damascus showed that only nine percent of American respondents believe the U.S. should get involved.
But if it is proven that Assad used chemical weapons, 25 percent of Americans flipped their answers, saying they then support involvement.
