Saying Americans cannot be “spectators to slaughter”, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel went before a congressional committee to sell the Obama’s administration case for limited airstrikes in Syria.

Kerry and Hagel are both former US Soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War.  Kerry said that not only does evidence show that there was a chemical weapon attack on the rebel-held suburbs east of Damascus on 21 August, but intelligence showed that the Bashar al-Assad regime knew about it beforehand.

“We can tell you beyond any reasonable doubt that our evidence proves the Assad regime prepared for this attack, warned its forces to use gas masks,” Mr. Kerry said.

Hagel said that failing to punish Syria now would embolden future atrocities from rogue states.

“The use of chemical weapons in Syria is not only an assault on humanity, it is a serious threat to America’s national security interests and those of our closest allies.  We cannot afford for Hezbollah or any terrorist group determined to strike the United States to have incentives to acquire or use chemical weapons.”

Before and after Kerry spoke, protesters from the anti-war Code Pink group interrupted the hearing, expressing their opposition to military action and saying the money used to attack Syria would be better spent on Healthcare and Education.

Earlier, key Republican leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor both approved military action, a marked switch from their usual knee-jerk opposition to President Obama.  Congress is expected to vote on possibly air strikes on Syria next week.