But within individual member countries, the admiral said, "there's a great deal of discussion" about lethal support to Syria, no-fly zones, arms embargoes and more.

NPR: Commander: Contingency Plans Under Way For Syria

And there was a capacity that the U.N. resolution enabled for NATO to protect those civilians, enforce a no-fly zone and an arms embargo that would achieve those tailored military goals.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

Robert Menendez, the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said options included "an internationally recognised no-fly zone, providing lethal assistance to vetted opposition forces, and sanctioning the transfer of arms to the regime".

BBC: US has 'some confidence' Syria used chemical weapons

And people who covered that story say that after the arms embargo was instituted it took about a year for a no-fly zone to be instituted, another three years to get everybody to the peace table in Dayton, and that basically this was sort of a model of inaction, not action, by the international community.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing