A 'false flag' operation(or simply an accident) is certainly a possibility( in fact it was proposed withing Obama admin several years back ) . Logic dictates that Assad was/is winning the war in Syria, so his motivation for using gas on civilians, was nil and certainly wouldn't have made the Russians happy since they'd be on the hot seat as well. Unfortunately, you have self-serving (and naive ) idiots trying to make mileage off this, and willing to risk escalation to a nuclear war. Yes, nuclear war. Russia has already committed to using tactical nukes if it's relatively inferior ( to the US/West) military is losing a conventional conflict which liberal neocons seem anxious to want to see. Once you start down that road, the next stop is hell on earth. Enjoy what may be our last year of existence.