The offensive against rebel-held Idlib looms, and even though there is no real evidence that a chemical weapons attack might happen there, US officials have been making near daily accusations that this will be the case, and offering ever-more-bellicose threats.

US officials are now saying that President Assad has personally approved such an attack already, and that the US military response will be "stronger than ever before" once this happens.

John Bolton went on to add that the US has been in talks with Britain and France, who joined the previous US attack on Syria, and that both of them also agreed to the need to carry out even bigger attacks this time.