I am very surprised that the US hasn't struck in "shock & awe" fashion almost immediately. Not like they have a lack of cruise missile capable sea and air craft in the area and Syria must have been on the target evaluation list for years now. Nope. There must be something going on in intelligence/diplomatic circles that is not meant for the public.
At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy nut case once again
I believe that this chemical gas attack was executed by an interested party but not by the Syrian regime. Assad's an asshole but not a retard.
Could have been anyone from Israel hoping to provoke a US response to strengthen its position in the middle East to North Korea, China or Russia testing the waters just how toothless the former tiger USA has become after the all but lost wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (yes, I know… Saddam and OBL are dead but both regions are far from stable and the US has long adopted a policy of "how do we cut our insane expenses and get out w/o losing face?" than actually trying to "win" anything).
There's something very fishy here. If Barack Obama had 100% proof and 100% zero doubt that Assad was behind the attacks, I'm sure he would have greenlighted (limited) cruise missile strikes on strategic targets within 24 hours. Why wouldn't he? Would have been a very popular move with the American public to demonstrate American strength. The UN would have boo'ed but since when does America give a fuck about the UN? China and Russia would have boo'ed a little louder but well… —> see UN.
No, there must be something going on behind the curtains here. The Brits and the US probably know very well that this wasn't Assad but you can't exactly reveal the treacherous activities of possibly even an allied (Israel?) nation either so the Brits and the US are playing the time card now until everyone has cooled down and a response no longer seems necessary or they are feverishly looking for airtight evidence who was behind this. At the same time the (suspected) originators of the attack are being sent a very clear message in intelligence and diplomatic circles to never even think about doing this again.