Threat of attacks in retaliation for using WMD have caused major disruptions in Syria's allocation of military resources

Reuters:

As U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies ramped up threats of military action against Syria this week, Syria’s military has repositioned some air assets to avoid fallout from possible missile strikes, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

The officials declined to comment further and it was not clear whether the Syrian actions would affect U.S. military planning for potential action against Syria over a suspected poison gas attack.

But Syria’s attempt to shelter aircraft, perhaps by locating them alongside Russian military hardware that Washington might be reluctant to strike, could limit damage that the United States and its allies might be able to inflict on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military.

A similar assessment regarding Syria’s actions was delivered by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, which said pro-Syrian government forces were emptying main airports and military air bases.

For days, Trump has been sharpening his rhetoric against Syria and its backers, Russia and Iran, calling Assad an “animal” on Sunday.

On Wednesday, he offered the clearest sign yet of his willingness to attack Syria, declaring that missiles “will be coming” and criticizing Moscow for standing by Assad.

Trump’s decision to disclose his decision to strike as well as the kind of weaponry to be used in a future military operation was certain to frustrate military planners, who hold such information closely.

The United States was actively collecting evidence on how Syria and Russia were responding to U.S. threats, officials said, adding that Washington believed Syria and its allies were almost certainly also moving personnel and military equipment - beyond just aircraft - into protective locations.
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I have seen other reports that some of the Syrian planes have been relocated to Iran much as Saddam Hussein did in the prelude to the Iraq war.  Syria has also moved fully loaded passenger planes to Tehran which could be an evacuation of Assad and his cronies.  The Russians would be wise to remove their own assets from the area.

The disruption to Syrian operations could be a serious problem for their efforts against the rebels and might give Trump and US allies a reason to prolong the threat.  I doubt the threats are a serious problem for US planners since the nature of the planned attacks have been demonstrated in the past.  The longer the wait for the attacks the harder it will be for Syria and Russia to restart operations.  It is possible that attacks could be called off is Assad surrendered to a war crimes tribunal to deal with his use of WMD.  While that may not seem likely it should be thrown out there to make the case for how serious they world sees his actions.