Total pacifists are rare for good reasons, mainly that they have the life expectancy of a soap bubble. Someone recently linked me a very interesting article by a liberal arguing for gun rights that, in addition to many other informative citations, quoted MLK affirming defensive violence Gandhis infamous statement Britain left him no tools save passive resistance but that "if we'd had the atom bomb, we would've used that."

Non-violence is great, but only if unanimous; otherwise it is just open season for those most willing to commit violence and experienced with doing so. Violence should always be the last resort of civilized people, but if suicidally renounced completely there would soon BE no civilized people. In this particular case it is absurd to cry about the US or anyone else bombing Assads military yet shrug off that military using sarin to slaughter hundreds of innocent women and children in their own country. That happened, not because no one talked them out of it, but because no one could.