In Las Vegas, the house seldom loses. Rarely are dirty Washington schemes foiled. It's playing hardball against Syria.

Its dirty hands are all over months of violence. In a July 18 press briefing, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell refused to condemn Wednesday's cold-blooded killings.

Syrian Defense Minister Dawood Rajiha, his deputy General Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President General Hassan Turkmani died.

A terrorist bombing killed them at Damascus National Security headquarters. At the time, a ministerial, military, and security meeting was in progress. Others attending were injured.

Pressed for an answer on whether the Obama administration believes killing high-level Syrian officials is good or bad, he stressed only that Washington is: