No one emitted gasps of astonishment when Syrian President Bashar Assad missed the second deadline for the removal of his vast stockpile of chemical weapons. February 5 was supposed to be a momentous day: The last shipments of Assad’s deadly arsenal would be loaded onto ships in the port of Latakia to be taken out to sea for safe disposal. As many anticipated, this didn’t happen.

Instead, February 5 quietly slipped by, and Assad went on, not-so-quietly, with his civil war. No surprises there. After all, the dictator has shown repeated contempt for any meaningful steps toward ending the war through peaceful avenues. The weapons act as a strong deterrent for foreign intervention. Giving up regime-preserving weapons certainly isn’t in Assad’s interests.

Nonetheless, the missed deadline is significant because the United States still trusts Assad to follow through on his promise!

Assad has proven that he couldn’t care less for the removal of his chemical weapons. He blew off his first deadline, December 31, when he was supposed to give up approximately 700 tons of his most toxic chemicals. But 2014 rolled around, and the trucks failed to roll in. Still, many in the international community crossed their fingers and hoped for the best.

As of February 5, Syria had successfully delivered a measly 4 percent of its disclosed chemical weapons. The last shipment came on January 27. From a declared stockpile of roughly 1,300 metric tons of chemicals, Syria has delivered two shipments—approximately 52 metric tons.

The Syrian government has until June 30 to completely remove its stockpiles, but its reluctance to comply puts these plans in jeopardy. Since Syria failed to meet its first two deadlines, how can it be expected to reach the June deadline?

The Assad administration has said that it has faced challenges with clearing roads leading to the seaside, but these claims have been refuted by the U.S. and UN, which say Assad has all he needs to get the chemicals transported.

One nation that should be placing far more pressure on Syria—instead of meekly taking a dictator at his word—is the United States. After all, it was the U.S. that was on the verge of an attack against Syria before Russia swooped in to clinch a deal to disarm Assad. When the U.S. backed down, Washington undoubtedly lost face in the eyes of the international community. With that in mind, you would think the U.S. would be ever more insistent to see real results stem from the disarmament deal. The U.S. took a severe blow to its prestige in order to “buy time” for Assad to agree to disarm.

Unfortunately, the U.S. is happy to remain in the backseat. The U.S. State Department has apparently asked Russia to see if more can be done to hasten the work. What a stark reminder of the weak will of the American superpower! Not only did President Obama politely back down from talks on striking at Assad after he gassed Syrian civilians—killing hundreds—but now the U.S. fears even raising its voice as Assad goes about his bloody business.

It’s true that there have been no reports of Assad using his chemical weapons since the attack on Aug. 21, 2013, but Syrians are still dying by the thousands. Over 130,000 have died so far in the constant bloodshed between Assad’s army and the increasingly radical rebel groups.

Assad has taken a liking to “barrel bombing” of late. A barrel bomb is simply a container filled with explosives and shards of metal. Helicopters drop these crude explosive devices onto rebel-held communities.

Assad isn’t changing his ways, nor is he getting rid of his chemicals. Even if these chemicals are removed, there is a strong possibility that Assad didn’t fully reveal his stockpile to UN authorities. An article from London’s Sunday Times reported: “The Israelis believe that some of the weaponry, mainly chemical warheads for missiles and artillery shells, is now concealed deep in the Alawite enclave—in west Syria and along the coast around Latakia up to the Turkish border.”

So Assad still has most of his declared chemicals plus those he could be hiding, negotiations are failing, and both sides seem fated to fight it out until every building has been leveled and every enemy killed. During the last week of negotiations, over a thousand people were killed in Syria, but barely a peep came from the White House.

The facts and figures of the civil war in Syria should horrify us. They should shock our governments into action. But right now, Syrians are waging a brutal war as the world just stands by. This complete lack of progress is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

Read Isaiah 3:1-3. This passage speaks of a leadership void that would plague the modern nations of Israel and Judah. It speaks of the “mighty man,” the “man of war,” and “the captain of fifty.” These are men of action! America is no longer a power with leadership capable of enacting and enforcing changes on the world scene. Look at the disarming of Syria. How quickly would that disarming be completed if Assad truly feared those telling him to disarm!

Disarming and the achievement of peace in Syria seems hopeless under such circumstances, and rightly so! Man has nearly 6,000 years of proof behind him showing that he cannot find a way to peace on his own. But there is still hope.

Isaiah 2:4 speaks of disarmament that will work! Notice: “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” This shows us that under the rule of Jesus Christ disarmament and peace will be achieved! That is the future ahead of us. When Christ returns, the world will experience peace as it has never known before.