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It’s no secret that the civil conflict in Syria isn’t PG-13. We’ve watched Syrians die from chemical attacks, rebels eat the hearts of soldiers and firing squads execute people within seconds.

But the truth is, brutality has been coming from both sides in Syria. And now, the U.S. is coming under fire for the Obama administration’s proposal to intervene on the rebels behalf.

According to the New York Times:

As the United States debates whether to support the Obama administration’s proposal that Syrian forces should be attacked for using chemical weapons against civilians, this video, shot in April, joins a growing body of evidence of an increasingly criminal environment populated by gangs of highwaymen, kidnappers and killers.

The video also offers a reminder of the foreign policy puzzle the United States faces in finding rebel allies as some members of Congress, including Senator John McCain, press for more robust military support for the opposition….John Kerry said that there were 70,000 to 100,000 “oppositionists.” Of these, he said, some 15 percent to 20 percent were “bad guys” or extremists.

In other news, it was revealed yesterday that the Pentagon knew in 2012 what it would take to stop Syria’s chemical weapon facilities – 75,000 troops on the ground.

According to the Daily Mail:

Securing Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles and the facilities that produced them would likely require the U.S. to send more than 75,000 ground troops into the Middle Eastern country, MailOnline learned Wednesday.

That estimate comes from a secret memorandum the U.S. Department of Defense prepared for President Obama in early 2012.

U.S. Central Command arrived at the figure of 75,000 ground troops as part of a written series of military options for dealing with Bashar al-Assad more than 18 months ago, long before the U.S. confirmed internally that the Syrian dictator was using the weapons against rebel factions within his borders.

This entire situation is getting way too murky, and the U.S. has its hands all in it.

We’ll keep you updated on the latest from Syria.

SOURCE: NYT | Daily Mail