Oddly enough, Congress never deciding on Syria might be best
If we decide to attack Syria it will be to move in the direction of deposing Assad and, with back firmly against wall, Assad will take whatever measures he can to defend Damascus... which will not be pretty.
And if we decide to not attack Syria, that move will obviously ot deter anything going forward.
Our power to deter use of nerve gas is highest right now, with a decision pending.
Nobody expects Assad to launch another big nerve gas attack while Congress is waiting to vote.
Perverse but true... Congress debating the matter is our greatest practical deterrent.
So maybe it should be debated until such time as Assad launches another big gas attack, at which point it will be voted on.
That way, there is never an upside to using nerve gas.
(That is kind of what happened to Germany before WWI and WWII. By supplying Britain while remaining ostensibly neutral we placed serious pressure on Germany's ability to conduct all-out submarine warfare in the Atlantic. In WWI the pressure got so great that Germany eventually cracked and started attacking our shipping.)
