US Report: Al-Assad More Confident, Controls Scene

Local Editor

The Syrian regime's confidence altered the US administration stance on UN envoy Kofi Annan's plan.

According to the US daily, "The Washington Post", "while stopping short of calling the accord a failure, White House officials are suggesting publicly and privately that it is time to consider a new approach.

"If the regime's intransigence continues, the international community is going to have to admit defeat," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Thursday.

On its Sunday report, the daily confirmed that "interviews, intelligence officials from two neighboring Muslim countries said they saw a more confident al-Assad consolidating his recent military wins and preparing to dig in, fully expecting that he can outlast both the rebels and his international opponents."

"Our view now is that al-Assad will survive 2012 unless there's a big surprise," said one of the officials, who agreed to discuss his country's intelligence assessments on the condition that neither his name nor country be revealed.

"He has cleaned up Homs and Hama. Damascus is quiet. The Druze and Christians
haven't turned against him. Even the flow of refugees we're seeing confirms that he is succeeding."

A second official described the Syrian President as "more confident because he feels he is in control."
"The security forces and elite military units have remained loyal to al-Assad so far, faithfully snuffing out pockets of resistance," the official said.

The second official further said "like al-Assad himself, the loyalist forces rely for financial support on Syria's dwindling cushion of hard-currency reserves, which is being used to finance the assault on rebels."

"While those reserves are emptying out quickly, the accounts appear sufficient to keep the army supplied for months," he added.

In parallel, "the Washington Post" also revealed that "current and former US officials largely share the assessment that al-Assad's removal is far from imminent."

Source: The Washington Post, Edited by moqawama.org


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