Two years after the start of the civil war, American forces await an order by President Barack Obama to strike Syria in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the al-Assad regime. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that it was ‘undeniable’ that the Syrian government used chemical weapons. President Francois Hollande said France was ‘ready to punish those who made the decision to gas these innocent people’, adding that ‘everything leads us to believe’ that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces are responsible. British Prime Minister David Cameron called lawmakers back from their summer vacations to consider a response to Syria, as the UK military prepares contingency plans. The US administration stressed on the fact the use of ‘a whole bunch of chemical weapons’ was a ‘red line’ not to be crossed and that an appropriate punishment to Bashar al-Assad’s regime was now necessary. Cameron did not dismiss the fact that such an intervention could cause further damage in the region, insisting that the motivation is solely the fight against any use of chemical weapons in the world.