"As anonymous sources within the U.S. state department leak information Syria may be loading warheads with chemical weapons, sources in France have begun indicating that a Western strike against the Assad regime could begin very soon.

Although the chemical weapon agents had not yet been loaded into planes, the State Department source, quoted by NBC News, said that if they are "there's little the outside world can do to stop it."

French weekly Le Point is reporting that France is preparing a military response similar to that used against Libya. There is no ground assault or sustained air campaign planned, the magazine says, but several smaller raids that would target chemical weapon sites and take away President Bashar al-Assad's air superiority.

The timing of Syria's moves on their chemical weapons come as the situation is "accelerating" on the ground, with Assad's regime losing to the rebels."

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