1) the us objective is written down in the pnac documents. it is to swing areas under the russian sphere to it's own. it's a long term objective that can happen in multiple stages. but in the long run, syria itself is just a piece on a risk board. it has nothing to do with assad, his behaviour or his decisions. it's solely about a struggle against russia for dominance in asia.

2) the chemical weapons weren't really an asset because they can't really be used. the idea that the dictator in it's last throes would gas it's own city is some kind of homeric era romanticism or something. none of these guys want to slaughter their own people. so, as a weapon, they're useless. it's as propaganda that they're valuable. the americans may have won a propaganda coup with it, but they were given away so readily precisely *because* they have no real strategic value. the flip side is that it also indicates a level of naivete (think chamberlain) on behalf of the syrians and russians, as though they really think that concessions will stop this aggression. the americans will not cut this off until moscow has an american flag flying off the kremlin. it would have been smarter to use it as more of a bargaining piece.

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11423