A man walks through a destroyed residential area of Saraqib, Syria, on Monday, September 9, following repeated airstrikes by government forces. More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria since a popular uprising spiraled into a civil war in 2011, according to the United Nations. The Syrian government's suspected use of chemical weapons in a deadly August 21 attack has prompted the United States to urge military action against the regime. Click through to view the most compelling images taken since the start of the conflict. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter stands on a damaged military tank in Zabadani near Damascus on Sunday, September 8. 
A soldier wears a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on his chest while at a market in old Damascus on September 8. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter prays in a trench in the Damascus suburbs on September 8. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter takes up a shooting position in Aleppo on September 8. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter runs for cover in Raqqa province on September 8. 
Buildings are heavily damaged in the Salah al-Din area of Aleppo on September 8. 
A boy named Issa, 10, carries a mortar shell in a weapons factory of the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo on Saturday, September 7. The boy works with his father in the factory. 
Issa fixes a mortar launcher in the Aleppo weapons factory on September 7. 
A bedroom lies in ruins after clashes between government forces and rebels around Ariha on September 7. 
Rebels prepare explosive devices for fighting with government forces on September 7 in Deir Ezzor. 
Syrian forces are seen in the Syrian Christian town of Maaloula on September 7. 
A Syrian soldier prepares large-caliber bullets for a machine gun in Maaloula on September 7. 
A man stands inside a home damaged by heavy shelling in Arbeen, a suburb of Damascus, Syria, on September 7. 
Men gather on the remains of a destroyed building after reported airstrikes by Syrian government forces in the rebel-held northwestern Syrian province of Idlib on Thursday, September 5. 
Men observe the wreckage of a motorbike in the Syrian province of Idlib on September 5. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said that Syrian war planes bombed rebel-held areas in Idlib, Aleppo, Hama and Lattakia. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter looks through a hole from behind sandbags, while a fellow fighter reads the Quran in Deir Ezzor, Syria, on Tuesday, September 3. The United States and other Western nations blame the Assad regime for a chemical weapons attack that's believed to have killed more than 1,400 people. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter takes cover as he watches forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad near Hanano barracks in Aleppo on September 3. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter is seen through a hole in a wall of a building in Aleppo on September 3. 
Free Syrian Army fighters walk inside a damaged house in Aleppo on September 3. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter walks through a hole in a wall in Aleppo on September 3. 
Free Syrian Army fighters talk inside a burnt house in Aleppo on September 3. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter peeks through the curtains of a bedroom in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, on Monday, September 2. 
Free Syrian Army fighters take their positions behind piled sandbags, as one of them points his weapon, in Deir ez-Zor on September 2. 
A rebel fighter points his weapon at Syrian regime forces in Deir ez-Zor on September 2. 
Syrian firefighters try to extinguish a fire after a missile hit a residential building in Damascus, Syria, on September 2. 
A U.N. arms expert collects samples during an inspection of a suspected chemical weapons strike site in the Ghouta area outside Damascus on August 29. 
People search for belongings in rubble in Raqqa, Syria, on August 29. 
Free Syrian Army fighters launch a rocket toward forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Deir Ezzor on August 29. 
A Syrian Kurd uses hay to hide another woman in a training session organized by the Kurdish Women's Defense Units on Wednesday, August 28, in a northern Syrian border village. They're preparing if the area comes under attack. 
Free Syrian Army fighters escort U.N. vehicles with chemical weapons experts on August 28 through a site of a suspected chemical weapons attack outside Damascus. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter takes position behind sandbags in the old city of Aleppo, Syria, on Tuesday, August 27. 
A U.N. team leaves its Damascus, Syria, hotel in a convoy on Monday, August 26. The team was to investigate an alleged chemical attack that killed hundreds last week in a suburb of the Syrian capital. Sniper fire hit a vehicle used by the U.N. chemical weapons investigation team multiple times Monday, according to the United Nations. 
A Syrian soldier walks down a street in Damascus on Saturday, August 24. 
Pigeons lie dead on the ground on August 24 from after what activists say is the use of chemical weapons by government forces in the Damascus suburb of Arbeen. 
Columns of smoke rise in Barzeh after heavy shelling on Friday, August 23. 
A young Free Syrian Army fighter is reflected in a mirror as he takes position in a house in Aleppo on Thursday, August 22. 
Rebels move around a building in Aleppo on August 22. 
Syrian rebels claim pro-government forces used chemical weapons to kill citizens outside Damascus on Wednesday, August 21. People inspect bodies in this photo released by the Syrian opposition Shaam News Network. 
People search the rubble of a bombed building in Aleppo, Syria, on Friday, August 16. 
Men bury the bodies of six members of the same family killed in a bombing in Raqqa on Saturday, August 10. 
Syrian Army soldiers patrol a devastated street in Homs on Wednesday, July 31. 
Free Syrian Army fighters move through a hole in a wall in Khan al-Assal on Monday, July 22, after seizing the town. 
A rebel fighter walks past swings in a deserted playground in Deir al-Zor, Syria, on Sunday, July 21. 
A rebel fighter speaks with a fellow fighter through a hole in a wall in Deir al-Zor on July 21. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter casts a shadow on a wall as he carries his weapon in a shelter in Deir al-Zor on Thursday, July 18. 
Yahya Sweed, 13, is comforted by his father as he lies on a bed in Kfar Nubul on Tuesday, July 16. The boy was injured by shrapnel, resulting in the amputation of his right leg. 
A rebel fighter naps in a trench about 300 feet from the Syrian government forces' positions along the highway connecting Idlib with Latakia on Monday, July 15. 
A rebel fighter uses a hole in the wall of a destroyed school to aim at Syrian government forces in the Izaa district of Aleppo on Sunday, July 14. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter uses a mirror to scope out snipers loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on Friday, July 12. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter stands over a boy who was injured during shelling in Al-Bara on Monday, July 8. 
Members of the Free Syrian Army fire a homemade rocket toward regime forces in Deir al-Zor on Sunday, June 16. 
Syrian rebels leave their position in the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan on Thursday, June 13. The White House said that the Syrian government has crossed a "red line" with its use of chemical weapons and announced it would start arming the rebels. 
Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are seen near Qusayr on Thursday, May 30. 
Syrian rebels take position in a house during clashes with regime forces in the old city of Aleppo on May 22. 
Syrian army soldiers take control of the village of Western Dumayna north of the rebel-held city of Qusayr on Monday, May 13. Syrian troops captured three villages in Homs province, allowing them to cut supply lines to rebels inside Qusayr town, a military officer told AFP. 
Rebel fighters fire at government forces in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, May 12. 
Searchers use a flashlight as they look for survivors among the rubble created by what activists say was a missile attack from the Syrian regime, in Raqqa province, Syria, on April 25. 
A Kurdish fighter from the "Popular Protection Units" (YPG) takes position inside a building in the majority-Kurdish Sheikh Maqsood area of Aleppo, on Apri. 21. 
People walk past destroyed houses in the northern Syrian town of Azaz on Sunday, April 21. 
Free Syrian Army fighters take positions prior to an offensive against government forces in the Khan al-Assal area, near Aleppo on Saturday, April 20. 
Men inspect damage at a house destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo on April 15. 
Syrian and Kurdish rebel fighters walk in the Sheikh Maqsud district of Aleppo on April 14. 
A female rebel monitors the movement of Syrian government forces in Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood on Thursday, April 11. 
A rebel runs to avoid sniper fire from Syrian government forces in Aleppo on April 11. 
Syrian rebels observe the movement of Syrian government forces around Al-Kendi hospital in Aleppo on Wednesday, April 10. 
Rescue teams and security forces check out the scene of a deadly car bomb explosion in Damascus on April 8. 
The fighting has taken a toll on buildings in Aleppo's Saladin district, seen here on April 8. 
A Syrian rebel runs for cover in Deir ez-Zor on April 2. 
A rebel checks for snipers across the street toward the Citadel in Aleppo, Syria, on Saturday, March 30, in this photo taken by iReporter Lee Harper. 
A Free Syrian fighter mourns the death of a friend in Aleppo on March 30, in this photo taken by iReporter Lee Harper. 
A Syrian opposition fighter runs for cover from Syrian army snipers in Aleppo on Wednesday, March 27. 
A Syrian girl covers her face to protect herself from fumes as a street covered with uncollected garbage is fumigated in Aleppo on Sunday, March 24. 
A Syrian man and his family drive past damaged buildings in Maarat al-Numan, on Wednesday, March 20. 
Syrians carry the body of a Syrian army soldier during a funeral ceremony in Idlib province on Tuesday, March 19. 
Syrian rebels take position in Aleppo, the largest city in the country, on March 11. 
Syrian men search for their relatives amongst the bodies of civilians executed and dumped in the Quweiq River on March 11. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter looks back as smoke rises during fighting between rebel fighters and forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on the outskirts of Aleppo on Saturday, March 2. 
Residents read Shaam News newspapers published by the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo on March 2. 
A member of the Free Syrian Army reacts to the death of a comrade who was killed in fighting, at Bustan al Qasr cemetery in Aleppo on Friday, March 1. 
A rebel fighter throws a home-made grenade at Syrian government forces in Aleppo on February 16. 
A member of the Free Syrian Army stands with his weapon as he looks at a rainbow in Aleppo on February 16. 
A Syrian woman looks through a bus window in Aleppo on February 14. 
Free Syrian Army fighters walk through a dust-filled stairwell in Damascus on February 7. 
A Syrian rebel gestures at comrades from inside a broken armored personnel carrier in Al-Yaqubia on February 6. 
A rebel fighter throws a hand grenade inside a Syrian Army base in Damascus on February 3. 
People stand in the dust of a building destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria on February 3. 
Free Syrian Army fighters run as they enter a Syrian Army base during heavy fighting in the Arabeen neighborhood of Damascus on February 3. 
An unexploded mortar shell fired by the Syrian Army sits lodged in the ground in Damascus on January 25. 
Fighters from Fateh al Sham unit of the Free Syrian Army fire on Syrian Army soldiers at a check point in Damascus on January 20. 
A Free Syrian Army fighter walks between buildings damaged during Syrian Air Force strikes in Damascus on January 19. 
A Syrian rebel fighter tries to locate a government jet fighter in Aleppo on January 18. 
Syrian rebels launch a missile near the Abu Baker brigade in Albab on January 16. 
A Syrian boy walks near rubbish next to tents at a refugee camp near the northern city of Azaz on the Syria-Turkey border, on January 8. 
Syrians look for survivors amid the rubble of a building targeted by a missile in Aleppo on January 7. 
A father reacts after hearing of a shelling by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on January 3. 
A patient smokes a cigarette at Dar Al-Ajaza psychiatric hospital in Aleppo on December 18, 2012. The psychiatric ward, housing around 60 patients, has lacked the means to function properly since fighting broke out there in July. 
Syrians mourn a fallen rebel fighter at a rebel base in the al-Fardos area of Aleppo on December 8, 2012. 
Members of Liwa (Brigade) Salahadin, a Kurdish military unit fighting alongside rebel fighters, monitor the area in the besieged district of Karmel al-Jabl in Aleppo on December 6, 2012. 
A member of Liwa Salahadin aims at a regime fighter in the besieged district of Karmel al-Jabl in Aleppo on December 6, 2012. 
Two young boys sit underneath a washline in a refugee camp on the border between Syria and Turkey near Azaz on December 5, 2012. 
The bodies of three children, who were allegedly killed in a mortar shell attack that landed close to a bakery in Aleppo, on December 2, 2012, are laid out for identification by family members at a makeshift hospital at an undisclosed location of the city. 
Smoke rises in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts in Aleppo on December 1, 2012 as fighting continues through the night. 
Damaged houses in Aleppo are seen after an airstrike on November 29, 2012. 
A Syrian rebel mourns the death of a comrade in Maraat al-Numan on November 20, 2012. 
Syrians protesters stand on Assad's portrait during an anti-regime demonstration in Aleppo on November 16, 2012. 
A Syrian rebel takes cover during fighting against Syrian government forces in Aleppo on November 15, 2012. 
Syrian opposition fighter Bazel Araj, 19, sleeps next to his pistol in Aleppo on November 11, 2012. 
A rebel fighter fires at a Syrian government position in Aleppo on November 6, 2012. 
A Syrian rebel leaps over debris left in the street while running across a "sniper alley" near the Salahudeen district in Aleppo on November 4, 2012. 
Rebels hold their position in the midst of a battle on November 3, 2012 in Aleppo. 
A man cries while being treated in a local hospital in a rebel-controlled area of Aleppo on October 31, 2012. 
A man is treated for wounds after a government jet attacked the Karm al-Aser neighborhood in eastern Aleppo on October 31, 2012. 
A Syrian rebel interrogates a handcuffed and blindfolded man suspected of being a pro-regime militiaman in Aleppo on October 26, 2012. 
Smoke rises from a fuel station following a mortar attack as Syrian women walk on a rainy day in the Arqub neighborhood of Aleppo on October 25, 2012. 
A Syrian rebel fires at an army position in the Karm al-Jabal district of Aleppo on October 22, 2012. 
A wounded Syrian boy sits on the back of a truck carrying victims and wounded people to a hospital following an attack by regime forces in Aleppo on October 21, 2012. 
A man lies on the ground after being shot by a sniper for a second time as he waits to be rescued by members of the Al-Baraa Bin Malek Battalion, part of the Free Syria Army's Al-Fatah brigade, in Aleppo on October 20, 2012. 
Syrian army soldiers run for cover during clashes with rebel fighters at Karam al-Jabal neighborhood of Aleppo on October 20, 2012. 
Smoke rises after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet fired missiles at the suburbs of the northern province of Idlib on October 16, 2012. 
A Syrian opposition fighter stands near a post in Aleppo on October 11, 2012. 
A Syrian man mourns the death of his father, who was killed during a government attack in Aleppo on October 10, 2012. 
A rebel fighter is carried by his friends and laid on a gurney to be treated for gunshot wounds sustained during heavy battles with government forces in Aleppo on October 1, 2012. 
Syrian rebels help a wounded comrade to an Aleppo hospital after he was injured in a Syrian army strike on September 18, 2012. 
Free Syria Army fighters are reflected in a mirror they use to see a Syrian Army post only 50 meters away in Aleppo on September 16, 2012. 
A Syrian man carrying grocery bags tries to dodge sniper fire as he runs through an alley near a checkpoint manned by the Free Syria Army in Aleppo on September 14, 2012. 
A woman walks past a destroyed building in Aleppo on September 13, 2012. 
Free Syrian Army fighters battle during street fighting against Syrian army soldiers in Aleppo on September 8, 2012. 
A Syrian man wounded by shelling sits on a chair outside a closed shop in Aleppo on September 4, 2012. 
A woman sits in her wheelchair next to her house, damaged by a Syrian air raid, near Homs on August 26, 2012. 
Members of the Free Syrian Army clash with Syrian army soliders in Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district on August 22, 2012. 
A man mourns in front of a field hospital on August 21, 2012 in Aleppo. 
Wounded civilians wait in a field hospital after an air strike on August 21, 2012 in Aleppo. 
People pray during the funeral of a Free Syrian Army fighter, Amar Ali Amero, on August 21, 2012. 
A man cries near the graves of his two children killed during a recent Syrian airstrike in Azaz on August 20, 2012. 
A Syrian woman holds her dead baby as she screams upon seeing her husband's body being covered following an airstrike by regime forces on the town of Azaz on August 15, 2012. 
A Syrian rebel runs in a street of Selehattin during an attack on the municipal building on July 23, 2012. 
Syrian rebels hunt for snipers after attacking the municipality building in the city center of Selehattin on July 23, 2012. 
Members of the Free Syrian Army's Mugaweer (commandos) Brigade pay their respects in a cemetery on May 12, 2012 in Qusayr. 
Syrian rebels take position near Qusayr on May 10, 2012. 
A Free Syrian Army member takes cover in underground caves in Sarmin on April 9, 2012. 
Rebels prepare to engage government tanks that advanced into Saraquib on April 9, 2012. 
Men say prayers during a ceremony in Binnish on April 9, 2012. 
A young boy plays with a toy gun in Binnish on April 9, 2012. 
A Free Syrian Army rebel mounts his horse in the Al-Shatouria village near the Turkish border in northwestern Syria on March 16, 2012, a year after the uprising began. 
Syrian refugees walk across a field before crossing into Turkey on March 14, 2012. 
A rebel takes position in Al-Qsair on January 27, 2012. 
A protester in Homs throws a tear gas bomb back towards security forces, on December 27, 2011. 
A man stands under a giant Syrian flag outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on December 24, 2011. 
A member of the Free Syrian Army looks out over a valley in the village of Ain al-Baida on December 15, 2011. 
Members of the Free Syrian Army stand in an valley near the village of Ain al-Baida, close to the Turkish border, on December 15, 2011. 
Displaced Syrian refugees walk through an orchard adjacent to Syria's northern border with Turkey on June 14, 2011, near Khirbet al-Jouz. 
A Syrian man holds up a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad during a rally to show support for the president in Damascus on April 30, 2011. 
Syrians rally to show their support for President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on April 30, 2011. 
A screen grab from YouTube shows thick smoke rising above as Syrian anti-government protesters demonstrate in Moaret Al-Noman on April 29, 2011. 
A screen grab from YouTube shows Syrian anti-government protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by security forces in Damascus on April 29, 2011, during the "Day of Rage" demonstrations called by activists to put pressure on al-Assad. 
A woman sits by the hospital bed of a man allegedly injured when an armed group seized rooftops in Latakia on March 27, 2011, and opened fire at passers-by, citizens and security forces personnel according to official sources. 
Syrians wave their national flag and hold portraits of al-Assad during a rally to show their support for their leader in Damascus on March 29, 2011. 
Syrian protesters chant slogans in support of al-Assad during a rally in Damascus on March 25, 2011. 
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- Gayle Tzemach Lemmon: President had to explain to the public what a Syria strike is not
- Lemmon: Past decade has left America exhausted, unwilling to enter another battle
- She says intervening in Syria conflict would be different from going to war in Iraq
- Lemmon: If U.S. takes no action, extremism may rise and refugee crisis may worsen
Editor's note: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a fellow and deputy director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. She wrote "The Dressmaker of Khair Khana," a book that tells the story of an Afghan girl whose business created jobs and hope during the Taliban years.
(CNN) -- "What we're talking about is not an open-ended intervention. This would not be another Iraq or Afghanistan," President Barack Obama said this weekend in an address to the American public about a possible U.S. military strike in Syria.
That the president knows he must say what the strike in Syria is not says a great deal about the uphill battle he has faced in making a case for limited military intervention. The ghosts of the Iraq War hover over any Syria action that the United States potentially undertakes.
But Iraq is not Syria. While Americans are exhausted after 12 years of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in which nearly 7,000 U.S. service members were killed, the differences between the two conflicts are worth noting if the case for Syria is to be judged on its merits.
1. Chemical weapons have been deployed.
Unlike Iraq, where evidence supporting the case that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction turned out to be faulty, Syria's arsenal (in this case, chemical weapons, which are considered a form of weapons of mass destruction) is well-documented.
The Obama administration has assembled an extensive collection of evidence, both crowd-sourced and from intelligence sources, that point convincingly to President Bashar al-Assad's forces having gassed innocent civilians. And U.N. investigators are scheduled to share their report soon.
2. The United States has not been alone in condemning the regime and pushing for action.
Syria opposition: U.S. strike will end war 
Hillary Clinton speaks up on Syria Unlike in 2002 when France led the vocal opposition to the U.S. attack on Iraq, our NATO ally stands next to America in supporting action against Syria's dictator. British Prime Minister David Cameron is also in favor of action, though Parliament and the British public remain largely opposed. Leaders of both countries have argued that the Assad regime cannot be permitted to trample international norms.
Also different from a decade ago -- regional powers such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan have pushed for greater U.S. intervention on the diplomatic and military fronts for months. Without the international community stepping in, the Syria conflict could threaten to overrun the region.
3. Extremists have gained because of U.S. inaction.
The aftermath of American military action saw Iraq become the flame to which extremist fighters from other countries flocked. Extremists seized the opportunity created by the chaos and slashed the country open further, taking advantage of the upheaval to foment a conflict that pierced the heart of Iraq's sectarian divide.
In Syria, however, extremists have seized opportunities while a civil war rages. For months, supporters of greater U.S. intervention in Syria have warned that if the United States continues to stay out of Syria, jihadists would pile in to Syria. They have.
Extremist elements have gained ground with help from coffers filled by supporters in Qatar and elsewhere. The number of extremists operating in Syria has grown in part because no credible, well-funded alternative exists. Inaction could lead to extremists' multiplication, not their neutralization.
4. There's a savage humanitarian crisis with no end in sight.
Before the American invasion, Iraq was a functioning state and society, albeit one presided by a dictator who had used chemical weapons in the past and ruled with fear and terror. But it faced no epic humanitarian crisis.
Syria today is not functioning; it is in fragments. More than 100,000 people -- the population of Cambridge, Massachusetts, or Burbank, California -- have been killed in the 2½-year war. Refugees number 2 million, a staggering figure, and half of those are children. Close to 800,000 of these displaced are under the age of 11.
Neighbors Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon all face the specter of instability created by the mounting numbers of refugees flooding their borders. Jordan has said as much, warning that it is a strain to absorb the refugees arriving each day.
America is skeptical after a conflict that many now feel was not worth fighting for based on premises that turned out to be untrue. Unlike in 2002, America is no longer ready to give its policymakers the benefit of doubt when it comes to entering battle. The past decade has left America exhausted, unwilling to pay another bill in treasured lives lost and dollars spent.
America's commander in chief is aware of the reluctance. This is why he called for limited intervention. It seems that an endless war -- or even an extended one that includes ground troops -- is unlikely. Getting into another protracted conflict in faraway lands is the last thing that Americans want.
"I know that the American people are weary after a decade of war, even as the war in Iraq has ended, and the war in Afghanistan is winding down," the president said. "But we are the United States of America. We cannot turn a blind eye to images like the ones we've seen out of Syria."
As Congress and the American public debate just what to do in Syria, it is important to be clear-eyed about just what Syria is and what it is not. And it is not Iraq.
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.
