Syria SCUD Use Leaves U.S. Perplexed: Reports

Foreign Policy reports that the use of six SCUD missiles by the increasingly besieged regime of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad left U.S. officials perplexed and outraged. The missiles were launched days ago, and highlight the Syrian regime's willingness to qualitatively escalate its tactics against rebels seeking Assad's overthrow. The move confirms that Damascus is willing to dip further into its weapons arsenal as rebels consolidate territorial gains, and is particularly worrying in light of analysis that Damascus may deploy its arsenal of chemical and biological weapons if faced with a last ditch use 'em or lose 'em scenario.