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Endgame in Syria
(Washington Post) David Ignatius - As the showdown in Syria moves into a decisive phase, U.S. officials report sharply rising Syrian army defections and mounting Arab pressure to remove President Bashar al-Assad. "I am stunned at how fast this is moving, and how fast Assad is falling," said one senior administration official. According to the latest U.S. intelligence reports, 300 Syrian army soldiers defected Monday in the Damascus suburb of Jisrine; 50 more defected in the town of Rsatan and dozens in other suburbs of Damascus. As the Syrian army rushes to protect the newly embattled centers of Damascus and Aleppo, it is pulling some troops out of opposition hotbeds in central Syria. Simply put, the Syrian army isn't large enough to maintain control over all of the country.