THERE are times when it would be inhuman not to have a little sympathy for Theresa May - this weekend, for example, as she tries to work out how best to respond to the chemical gas attack in Syria.

On Thursday she and her cabinet agonised for hours about whether to come out in support of Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Syria.

And what did they conclude? On the face of it they appeared to say that President Assad had ‘crossed a line’ and action had to be taken. But they left themselves with plenty of wiggle room, just in case their military advisers said: Ahem, not so fast.

Any British attack on Syria - which could happen this weekend - would probably come from Akrotiri our sovereign base in Cyprus.

Sovereign means that it is legally part of British territory so, given that the Russians are threatening to attack the source of any attacks on Syria, are we putting ourselves into a situation in which Russian planes would be directly attacking British territory - and if so then what would we do? No wonder some, and not just Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, but also senior Conservative MPs, are urging caution.

And caution now seems to be the watchword of President Macron of France. After initially sounding more bellicose than Trump, who is now suggesting that while he is determined that Syria will be sanctioned for its alleged use of chemical weapons, it might not involve military action.

Oddly enough, even the bellicose Mr Trump is now sounding a bit more cautious. Just days after tweeting “Get Ready Russia” he is now tweeting, “not quite so soon”.

It might be because wiser heads, including that of his Defence Secretary James Mattis, are prevailing, or simply because American aircraft and missiles are not yet in position.

Which is one reason why there is said to be some anger in Washington over Trump’s initial tweets, warning the Syrians that military action was on the cards and so gave them a chance to move their aircraft and missiles close to Russian installations in Syria. This they did to try and deter any attack because they assumed (or hoped) that the US and her allies would be reluctant to be seen to be directly attacking Russian forces.

And that brings us to Russia and its uncompromising leader Vladimir Putin. Clearly, as he has demonstrated, he is a man with no great respect for international law, human rights nor the fate of smaller countries. But equally, he is no fool.

Russia might be using all the propaganda power at its disposal to deter attacks on its ally Syria, but maybe this is because Putin doesn’t want to have to use military means.

So what is to be done, as another famous Russian, Lenin, once wrote?

To state the obvious – there are no easy answers. If the US and her allies start bombing Syria, apart from damage to that country, and its people, what is the endgame? Do we just drop some bombs and then withdraw, saying job done?

That’s one possibility, but if, as is being reported, Syria has moved its military assets alongside Russia’s, then it would be impossible to inflict any serious damage without the risk of destroying Russian military equipment and more seriously, killing Russian military personnel.

Then how would Putin react? It’s one thing for him to express outrage at possible attacks on Syria but how would he respond to direct attacks on Russian forces is another.

Attacking the British base on Cyprus would be an easy option for him, it’s nearby, an easy target and not American; and in this deadly game of escalation, how would we react to this attack on British territory?

And the military dilemma is not the end of Mrs May’s problems, for there is growing pressure, and not just from Labour, for her not to take any military action in Syria without parliamentary approval.

Currently that cannot be guaranteed, which is why, with Parliament in recess until Monday, there is a strong possibility that she might be keen for Washington to go ahead with the attack this weekend.

Yet is doing nothing an option? It is, but not a good one; for the evidence seems overwhelming that the chemical attack in Syria was launched by the Syrian Government. So can the international community, within which we still want to play a prominent role, allow such crimes to go unpunished?

If it did would it be simply encouraging others to follow suit?

So none of the choices are good ones which is why, as I said, I don’t envy Mrs May this weekend.

Ivor Gaber is Professor of Political Journalism at the University of Sussex and a former political correspondent based at Westminster.