Nearly a third of Syria's population, an estimated seven million people, have left their homes, according to United Nation aid officials. Funding to care for the refugees from donor countries is currently less that a third of the money needed.

Sources say the two-and-a-half yearlong civil war has already claimed over 100,000 lives. President Bashar Assad's government recently denied his government was responsible for a confirmed chemical attack on Damascus on August 21^st that killed over fourteen hundred people, including hundreds of children.

The Assad government denied the attack and blamed the rebel forces. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama denounced the use of the nerve gas Saran and called upon Congress to support a military strike against the Assad regime.

The Arab League met last weekend and asked the United Nations and the international community to take measures under international law to stop the Syrian regime's crimes, but did not endorse U.S. military strikes.

Two of Assad's most powerful international supporters, China and Russia opposed the proposed military strike and the likely increase in Middle East tensions. Russian officials said they found the evidence presented by State Senator John Kerry lacking in specifics and that there was no evidence that professionals carried out the attack. U.S. officials said much of the evidence could not be shared because the information is classified, but Secretary Kerry said the U.S. received new samples of blood and hair that confirmed the use of nerve gas in the August 21^st attack.