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White House, in Shift, Turns Against Syria Leader
(New York Times) Mark Landler and David E. Sanger - President Obama, in an interview Tuesday with the "CBS Evening News," said: "You're seeing President Assad lose legitimacy in the eyes of his people....He has missed opportunity after opportunity to present a genuine reform agenda. And that's why we've been working at an international level to make sure we keep the pressure up." Until recently, some American officials argued they were better off with Assad in power than with a power vacuum that could threaten the stability of Lebanon and security of Israel, and might be filled by Iran. But now that Assad "has shown definitively he has no interest in reform," one senior official said, "the rationale for holding on to him has evaporated." The U.S., officials said, is readying fresh sanctions against senior members of the Assad regime, and is weighing sanctions on Syria's oil and gas industry.