Syrian activists claim hundreds killed in poisonous gas attack

"Hague concerned at 'shocking escalation' in reported use of chemical weapons after alleged attacks in Damascus suburbs."

Syrian opposition groups have claimed that 213 people were killed in chemical weapons attacks by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on the outskirts Damascus on Wednesday morning. 

If confirmed, the attack could force Barack Obama to stand by his insistence that the use of such weapons crossed a "red line". Syrian state TV said there was "no truth whatsoever" in the allegations.

Its Déjà vu all over again. This is not the first time weapons of mass destruction* is alleged to be in use in Syria. I went to find out what Althouse said at the time...

"What a mistake to set the red line at something the rebels could do!"

To which Matthew Sablan commented... 

If the rebels -did- actually use the gas against Syria and Syria did not (this is a hypothetical, mind you), does that mean we'd need to move in defense of the Syrian government, or does the warning only apply to them?

Looking for an Obama response to the stepping over of his "red line", at that time, I found this.
 
"President Obama reportedly regrets having set a red line for Assad, now that Assad has crossed it. At his May 16 press conference, after it was clear the red line had been crossed, Obama was asked whether the U.S. would now take “more initiative” to effectuate his policy that “Assad must go.” Obama made it clear Assad need not worry about any U.S. action:"

With respect to what I’ve said in the past around red lines — what I’ve said is that the use of chemical weapons are something that the civilized world has recognized should be out of bounds. And as we gather more evidence and work together, my intention is to make sure that we’re presenting everything that we know to the international community … for the international community to put all the pressure that they can on the Assad regime, and to work with the opposition to bring about that political transition. … But it’s not going to be something that the United States does by itself.

Back to the present massacre** at hand.

Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, expressed concern following the reports, adding that, if confirmed, they would mark a "shocking escalation" in the use of such weapons.*

Judging by Obamas response the first time, I say if your line of work entails "gathering evidence" and "making presentations", you are in good shape, at least as far as job security is concerned.

Syrian opposition sources said rockets with toxic agents hit the Ghouta area, east of the capital, where there is a rebel presence. The opposition Sham news network reported that the nerve agent sarin had been used.

The local rebel co-ordinating committees told al-Arabiya TV that 635 people had been killed.

The Guardian.
 
*The Guardian story does not refer to chemical weapons as weapons of mass destruction. I'm going by the Bush era style of text. 

**The Guardian story does not refer to the killing as a massacre. Again, I'm going by the Bush era style of text. I could be wrong about this, but until somebody tells me to stop, it shall be the policy of this nation to regard ... wait.