My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it...
has signed a secret order authorizing US support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
and his government, US sources familiar with the matter said.
Obama's order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence "finding," broadly permits the CIA and other US agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad.
This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Assad's armed opponents -- a shift that intensified following last month's failure of the UN Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
government.
The White House is for now apparently stopping short of giving the rebels lethal weapons, even as some U.S. allies do just that.