I have the same position. Stop it happening again, but then let them sort the rest out themselves.
Right. Currently we target a few camps or missile sites, kill a few dozen helpless soldiers who are usually no more/less looking forward to a war than their US counterparts.. or maybe take out a leaders vacation home and blow up his luxury cars. Or if we're really serious we'll target more civilians or some piece of infrastructure which will make the populace suffer. But they didn't make the decision to gas their neighbour or extended family who lives in Rockostan City.. They die, but they were no more involved than you and me. Who feels better about this? It must stop.
If our intel network can say with confidence Assad's troops (for instance) had control over the stockpile the chem in question came from (and you know this usually can be done) then we target the leadership.. If we're just a little mad
(the worse the atrocity, people killed, children, school, hospital, etc.. the more mad we become), target Assad. If we're a lot mad target him and the generals in charge of the stockpile AND the general in charge of delivery. Make it personal, make it appropriate, and make it now.
We can even announce our policy. Starting immediately from their violation we'll target them as they sleep, eat, travel, s s and s, but only them. Starting two weeks after, we'll target them and anyone in their company when we find them. Give them a chance to do the right thing and not hide behind skirts. We could also give them a time period to turn themselves in for trial.. but then we'd need a judicial body that worked. So that leaves out most of the UN. Anyway, we make known our policy, we stand behind it 100% of the time, and we put these despots on notice there are consequences. Each and every time. We'll probably need to take out a few to make the point.. Do this and we do that.
Nothing works better than consistent, effective, and immediate consequence.
How would you handle this situation?