The Unites States government openly stated today that it believes Syria's government used chemical weapons against its own people:
The White House informed Congress about the chemical weapons use in letters to Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz., on Thursday. These announcements are the first U.S. indication of confidence in claims of Syria's chemical weapons use.
"The intelligence community has been assessing information for some time on this issue," [Secretary of Defense Chuck] Hagel said. "The decision to make this conclusion was reached in the last 24 hours."
The Defense secretary, speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi, also said the U.S. government believes "any use of chemical weapons in Syria very likely originated" with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.