Since this will be in the news for the next week, here's some basic background on chemical warfare and Syria's capabilities.

• Syria will likely claim that they are arming their chemical weapons to defend from foreign invaders. This is simply not true. The point of chemical weapons is not to combat a military force, especially a modern one like NATO. All modern militaries have the equipment and training to withstand a chemical attack with negligible casualties. The purpose of chemical weapons is to attack civilian targets so that you can force your enemy to redirect its resources to providing medical support for civilians rather than fighting you. The only reason Assad would be arming these weapons is to use them on rebel controlled cities, which would give him more time to harden Damascus before the rebels advance into the city because the rebels would need to use up their medical resources on civilians rather than their soldiers.

• The weapons that Syria currently has are Mustard, Sarin, and VX. The Mustard and Sarin stores are significant and would be extremely effective. They have much less VX, most of it acquired from Saddam a few years before the Iraq War, but it's still something to be concerned about.

• Mustard is one of the more familiar chemical weapons due to its widespread use in the First World War. It is a blister agent that eats away at soft tissues such as skin. Alone, it's usually not fatal unless inhaled in large amounts, but it is extremely painful. It is often combined with other Chemical or Biological weapons to increase the secondary weapon's efficacy.

• Sarin is a nerve agent that causes nerve cells to fire uncontrollably, which causes violent muscle spasms. It usually kills by destroying the ability to control breathing and the victims suffocate. It is frequently combined with either Mustard or tear gas because the irritant can cause the victim to remove a mask, which increases the likelihood of inhalation. It is especially dangerous because the normal medical techniques for restoring breathing functionality will push the chemical into the bloodstream where it can directly attack the heart or brain. It was historically used by Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War.

• VX is another nerve agent, like Sarin, but much more effective. It takes significantly less VX to cause the same effect as Sarin. VX is also odorless, so victims often don't know they're exposed until they stop breathing. VX was developed by the US during the Cold War and was sold to Saddam Hussein, who then resold significant quantities to Syria.

• Sarin and Mustard are fairly easily destroyed. You can just burn them and as long as you stay away from the concentrated fumes, they are rendered safe. VX is a bit of a bigger problem. It requires huge, expensive, and high-tech facilities to safely destroy the chemical. If a VX warhead is actually used, it takes a long time for the chemical to dissipate to safe levels. You could destroy Mustard and Sarin storage and production facilities with an airstrike and have little to no collateral damage. VX facilities, however, would probably need to be secured by a ground team unless it's in a really remote location.

If anyone has any questions, I will answer to the best of my ability as a defense analyst with CBRN training. Here is another resource with good information on Syria's WMD capabilities.