According to an NBC report, the Syrian military is loading chemical weapons inside bombs, awaiting final orders from President Bashar al-Assad to use them against its own people.
CNN has not confirmed this report.
CNN Contributor Robert Baer describes the possible weapons as highly toxic, explaining, "its absolutely completely deadly...if in fact they've mixed the sarin...it doesn't do you any good to bomb these sites because it will just disperse the chemicals all around, and if they are sitting in cities or near cities it will have the same amount of damage, so we are faced with a terrible dilemma."
CNN Contributor Fran Townsend explains the challenges for the White House in preparing plans using coordinated, current real-time intelligence to understand and address the immediate threat in order to present possible military options.
CNN's Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr explains the possible threat as 'catastrophic' because "...the plume clouds if you will, can cross borders, terrorists could get a hold of this kind of material if it’s now out of secure locations and take it across borders into Israel, Jordan, or Turkey. It just doesn't get more serious than this."