In new role, Kerry back in Vietnam's Mekong Delta

[karynnj]

19. The point was Never to "punish" but to "deter" Assad from using chemical weapons

If you actually listened to him - he NEVER spoke of punishment and specifically said the target was to stop the use of chemical weapons. As you put "pinpprick" in quotes - it was McCain who used that word. Kerry spoke of a LIMITED Targeted strike that would directly make it harder for them to use chemical weapons. I watched the hearing and all of his speeches - there was NEVER a call by either Obama or Kerry to "punish Assad decisively" - which it sounds like you interpreted as something like smoke and awe.

Interestingly, One recent long background article mentioned that Kerry first brought up trying to remove the chemical weapons to Lavrov when they were speaking of the Geneva 2 peace conference. At that point, the Russians had no interest in pressuring Assad.

If you look at what he really wanted to accomplish - getting all the chemical weapons out is the more effective sure way to do what he stated must be done.