Assad

ANTAKYA, Turkey — A surge of rebel advances in Syria is being fueled at least in part by an influx of heavy weaponry in a renewed effort by outside powers to arm moderates in the Free Syrian Army, according to Arab and rebel officials. The new armaments, including anti-tank weapons and recoilless rifles, have been sent across the Jordanian border into the province of Daraa in recent weeks to counter the growing influence of Islamist extremist groups in the north of Syria by boosting more moderate...

At the end of a week when more brave reporters died chronicling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's slaughter of more than 6,000 of his countrymen, you hear passionate calls for sending weapons to the embattled opposition militia known as the "Free Syrian Army. " More weapons undoubtedly will flow to the opposition, one way or another, but they're not going to bring about a democratic Syria. The moral case for arming the rebels may be strong, but it doesn't overcome the practical problem: The battlefield is Assad's strength, not weakness.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has added four Syrian government ministers to a U.S. terror blacklist as well as the leader of an al-Qaida-linked organization fighting President Bashar Assad's (bah-SHAR' AH'-sahd) regime. Thursday's actions highlight America's twin goals in Syria: It wants the Assad regime to end but doesn't want extremists taking power. The Treasury Department targeted the defense, health, industry and justice ministers in Assad's government, plus a...

Iran and Hezbollah, its Lebanese proxy, are building a network of militias inside Syria to preserve and protect their interests in the event that President Bashar al- Assad's government falls or is forced to retreat from Damascus, according to U.S. and Middle Eastern officials. The militias are fighting alongside Syrian government forces to keep Assad in power. But officials think Iran's long-term goal is to have reliable operatives in Syria in case the country fractures into...

More than a decade before the Arab Spring, there was the Damascus Spring. In the first months after Bashar al-Assad took over Syria in 2000, a wave of free expression broke out after he sent signals that were interpreted to mean that he planned to relax his father's autocratic control. Dissidents formed 70 dialogue clubs, met openly and published two critical opinion magazines. Then, as suddenly as the new era had begun, Assad's forces cracked down. Those who spoke out were arrested, and...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces are "gaining physical momentum on the battlefield," and the situation there "will get worse before it gets better," the top U.S. military official in the region said Tuesday. Marine Gen. James Mattis told Senate lawmakers that Assad "is going to be there for some time because I think he will continue to employ heavier and heavier weapons on his people. " Any U.S. or international air operations against Assad's forces would be "challenging," said...

Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, has been a powerful devotee of the Syrian government. But in a sign of waning support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Lavrov said this month that " no one is inviting him to Moscow " should the dictator resign. Lavrov might consider extending such an invitation — precisely for the dictator to resign. Given Russia's staunch backing of the Assad regime during its brutal crackdown on civilian uprisings over the past year, Moscow is in a unique position to orchestrate Assad's...

DOHA, Qatar — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued a stark warning Thursday to Western nations that may be thinking of intervening militarily in the bloody conflict that has devastated the country. "I think the price of this invasion, if it happened, is going too big, more than the whole world can afford," Assad said in an interview with the Russia Today news channel. "We are the last stronghold of secularism and stability in the region and coexistence. . . . It will have a domino effect that will...

CAIRO — Even as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad offered new concessions in a televised speech Monday, he remained defiant, blaming the mass protests rocking his government on "saboteurs" and "vandalism. " Assad, wrestling with the boldest challenge yet to his family's 40-year-old rule, spoke for more than an hour at Damascus University. But his bid to subdue unrelenting protests and maintain his grip on power by promising reforms failed to mollify his opponents. Residents who fled their...

SECRETARY of State John F. Kerry began his attempt to revive the United States' Syria policy several months ago by emphasizing the need to " change the calculation on the ground for President Assad . " The Syrian ruler clearly had no intention of stepping down and saw no need to negotiate a political transition. So, Mr. Kerry said, the United States and its allies would take steps to bolster the opposition so as to alter the regime's calculus. Just a couple of weeks ago, The Post's Karen DeYoung reported that the...

WASHINGTON — Cameron: No political progress in Syria unless opposition can withstand onslaught from Assad. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

WASHINGTON — Obama: US and Britain working together to keep pressure on Syria's Assad, assist opposition. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

BEIRUT — Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are beginning to turn the tide of the country's war, bolstered by a new strategy, the support of Iran and Russia and the assistance of fighters with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. A series of modest, scattered gains by government forces in recent weeks has produced no decisive breakthrough. But the advances have been made in strategically important locations and point to a new level of direction and energy previously unseen in the army's performance, military...

WASHINGTON — The White House says that Syria's future cannot include President Bashar Assad. White House spokesman Jay Carney says the U.S. views Syria's future as being a post-Assad future. But he says it's up to the Syrian opposition to decide which elements of Assad's regime could be included in a transitional government. Carney was asked to clarify the U.S. position a day after Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. and Russia would convene a conference soon to...

BEIRUT — President Bashar Assad says Syria is capable of facing Israel in 1st comments since airstrikes. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

More than nine months after President Obama declared that Bashar al-Assad must go, it is clear that neither diplomacy nor sanctions alone will dislodge the Syrian dictator. On the contrary, Assad's campaign of killing will continue with no hope of a diplomatic settlement — dragging Syria into a protracted, bloody and increasingly sectarian civil war — until the balance of power inside the country shifts against him. Unfortunately, the United States is not yet doing anything decisive to turn the military tide against Assad — nor...

The Obama administration and the Syrian opposition are beginning to grapple seriously with the core problem in Syria, which is how to topple President Bashar al-Assad without creating a political vacuum in which terrorists, warlords and regime die-hards could thrive. A top White House official warns that it's crucial to avoid a Syrian version of "the Bremer problem" — by which he means the chaos in Iraq that followed the United States' decision in 2003 to disband the Iraqi army and uproot government institutions.

WASHINGTON — A Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is predicting the U.S. will soon be "arming the rebels" seeking to overthrow Syria's Bashar Assad. Tennessee's Bob Corker says "it's time for to begin changing" the balance of power in the 2-year-old civil war. The Obama administration said last week it was rethinking its opposition to arming the rebels. Corker and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, joined President Barack Obama and...

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's prime minister has denounced Israeli airstrikes on Syria, saying the attacks help strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad's hand. Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday also criticized Iran for "turning a blind eye" to massacres in Syria and accused the international community of ignoring the bloodshed. Addressing party members in Parliament, Erdogan said the Israeli airstrikes into Syria were "unacceptable" and amounted to "handing over (to Assad)...