    The consul general's report followed a series of interviews
with activists, doctors, and defectors, in what the
administration official said was one of the most comprehensive
efforts the U.S. government has made to investigate claims by
internal Syrian sources. The investigation included a meeting
between the consulate staff and Mustafa al-Sheikh, a high-level
defector who once was a major general in Assad's army and key
official in the Syrian military's WMD program.   The use of
chemical weapons by the Assad regime would cross the "red line"
President Barack Obama first established in an Aug. 20
statement. "We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but
also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is
we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around
or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would
change my equation," Obama said.   The report confirms the worst
fears of officials who are frustrated by the current policy,
which is to avoid any direct military ass