BY AUSTIN TICE

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Washington reached out to Syria’s most important ally and protector Saturday, urging Russia to join a coordinated effort to resolve the deadly conflict as the violence spilled across the border into Lebanon, a senior State Department official said.

The international community has been frustrated by the failure of a U.N.-brokered peace plan to stop the bloodshed. Fears also have risen the violence could spread and provoke a regional conflagration.

Already clashes have broken out between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in northern Lebanon, with at least eight people killed late Friday and early Saturday, Lebanese security officials said.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton discussed the situation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a telephone call on Saturday, a senior State Department official said.

“They both agreed that we have to work together,” said the official, who provided details of the private discussion on condition of anonymity. “Her message to him was that we have to start working together to help Syrians with a serious political transition strategy.”

Clinton said U.S. and Russian officials should engage diplomatically to come up with ideas in Moscow, Washington, New York and “wherever we need to,” according to the official.”

Russia has refused to support any move that could lead to foreign intervention in Syria, Moscow’s last significant ally in the Middle East. Russia, along with China, has twice used its veto power to shield Syria from U.N. sanctions.

Moscow’s pro-Syria stance is motivated in part by its strategic and defense ties to Damascus, including weapons sales. Russia also rejects what it sees as a world order dominated by the U.S.

The fighting in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli started shortly before midnight Friday and intensified Saturday.

Repeated outbreaks of violence in the city, the country’s second largest, are seen as spillover from the conflict in neighboring Syria and have raised fears of an escalation in sectarian tensions in Lebanon.

Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which are easily enflamed. Clashes in Tripoli last month killed at least eight people.

The fighting in Lebanon pits Sunni Muslims who support Syrian rebels trying to oust President Bashar Assad against members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam of which Assad is a member.

Smoke billowed from several apartments near the city’s Syria street, the dividing line between the mainly Sunni Bab Tabbaneh neighborhood and the adjacent, Alawite-majority Jabal Mohsen. The area around Syria street was mostly empty except for gunmen roaming the streets.

“We are being targeted because we support the Syrian people,” one Sunni gunman said. “We are with you (Syrian people) and will not abandon you.”

Activists say as many as 13,000 people have died in Assad’s crackdown against the anti-government uprising, which began in March 2011 amid the Arab Spring. One year after the revolt began, the U.N. put the toll at 9,000, but hundreds more have died since.

In Syria, activists said government troops fired shells at Houla, a cluster of farming villages in the central province of Homs where the U.N. says at least 108 people — including 49 children under the age of 10 — were killed on May 25.

The opposition and the government have exchanged accusations over the massacre, each blaming the other.

Syria has long faced deepening international isolation, but the Houla massacre has brought a new urgency to calls to end the crisis.

In Qatar, the head of Syria’s largest exile opposition group said Saturday he would welcome Arab military action aimed at brining a halt to attacks by Assad’s regime against Syrian rebel forces and civilians.

Burhan Ghalioun, the leader of the Syrian National Council, made the comments before a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers, who discussed the bloodshed in Syria.

Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar have pledged funds to aid Syria’s rebels, but there is no direct evidence that the money is reaching anti-Assad forces or that the rebels are becoming better armed. The Arab League, however, does not appear ready to deploy its own troops.

After the meeting, the ministers issued a statement calling on the Arab world’s two main satellite operators, Saudi Arabia-hosted Arabsat and Egypt’s Nilesat, to suspend the broadcasting of Syria’s state-run and private television stations.

The move, which would block the regime’s ability to push its version of the uprising, is seen as another step by the Arab League to pressure Damascus, which was suspended from the 22-member bloc last year.

Syrian state TV quickly responded, saying the move is “part of the aggression against Syria and aims to silence the voice of its people.” It added that the decision aims to “conceal the facts of what is going on in Syria.”

With violence continuing despite nearly 300-strong U.N. observers on the ground in Syria, League chief Nabil Elaraby suggested that the monitors’ mission shift into a peacekeeping one.

“What is needed today is not only observing and investigating but supervising that the violence stops,” Elaraby told the meeting. “One of the alternatives could be amending the authorization regarding the observers so that they become a peacekeeping force.”

International envoy Kofi Annan, who has been trying to salvage his six-point peace plan, which includes a cease-fire that has not taken hold, warned Arab officials in Qatar that “the specter of all-out civil war, with a worrying sectarian dimension, grows by the day,” in Syria, and added that the crisis is spilling over to neighboring countries, an apparent reference to Lebanon

Washington, D.C.—Fifty-six foreign policy experts and former U.S. government officials signed an open letter today urging President Obama to act more assertively to stop the Assad regime’s continuing atrocities against Syrian civilians.  Organized by the Foreign Policy Initiative and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the letter calls on the President to immediately establish safe zones and no-go zones within Syrian territory; establish contacts with the Free Syrian Army and provide a full range of direct assistance including self-defense aid; improve U.S. coordination with political opposition groups and provide them with secure communication technologies; and work with Congress to improve crippling U.S. and multilateral sanctions on the Syrian government.

For eleven months, the Syrian people have been dying on a daily basis at the hands of the Assad regime.  The letter urges that, “Given the United Nations Security Council’s recent failure to act…the United States cannot continue to defer its strategic and moral responsibilities in Syria to regional actors such as the Arab League, or to wait for consent from the Assad regime’s protectors, Russia and China.”

The letter calls on the President to lead on Syria. “Unless the United States takes the lead and acts, either individually or in concert with like-minded nations, thousands of additional Syrian civilians will likely die, and the emerging civil war in Syria will likely ignite wider instability in the Middle East.  Given American interests in the Middle East, as well as the implications for those seeking freedom in other repressive societies, it is imperative that the United States and its allies not remove any option from consideration, including military intervention.’”

The full text of the letter and signatories can be found below.

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February 17, 2012

 
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
Washington, D.C.
 
Dear Mr. President:
 
For eleven months now, the Syrian people have been dying on a daily basis at the hands of their government as they seek to topple the brutal regime of Bashar al-Assad.  As the recent events in the city of Homs—in which hundreds of Syrians have been killed in a matter of days—have shown, Assad will stop at nothing to maintain his grip on power.
 
Given the United Nations Security Council’s recent failure to act, we believe that the United States cannot continue to defer its strategic and moral responsibilities in Syria to regional actors such as the Arab League, or to wait for consent from the Assad regime’s protectors, Russia and China.  We therefore urge you to take immediate steps to decisively halt the Assad regime’s atrocities against Syrian civilians, and to hasten the emergence of a post-Assad government in Syria.
 
Syria’s future is not purely a humanitarian concern.  The Assad regime poses a grave threat to national security interests of the United States.  The Syrian government, which has been on the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism list since 1979, maintains a strategic partnership with the terror-sponsoring government of Iran, as well as with Hamas and Hezbollah.  For years, it facilitated the entry of foreign fighters into Iraq who killed American troops.  For years, it secretly pursued a nuclear program with North Korea’s assistance.  And for decades, it has closely cooperated with Iran and other agents of violence and instability to menace America’s allies and partners throughout the Middle East.
 
Equally troubling, foreign powers have already directly intervened in Syria—in support of the Assad regime.  Russia is providing arms and supplies to the Syrian government.  Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah are reportedly operating in Syria, and assisting Syrian military forces and pro-regime militias in efforts to crush the Syrian opposition.  In turn, the lack of resolve and action by the responsible members of the international community is only further emboldening the Assad regime.
 
Given these facts, we urge you to take the following immediate actions to hasten an end to the Assad regime and the humanitarian catastrophe that it is inflicting on the Syrian people:

• Immediately establish safe zones within Syrian territory, as well as no-go zones for the Assad regime’s military and security forces, around Homs, Idlib, and other threatened areas, in order to protect Syrian civilians.  To the extent possible, the United States should work with like-minded countries like Turkey and members of the Arab League in these efforts.

• Establish contacts with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and, in conjunction with allies in the Middle East and Europe, provide a full range of direct assistance, including self-defense aid to the FSA.

• Improve U.S. coordination with political opposition groups and provide them with secure communications technologies and other assistance that will help to improve their ability to prepare for a post-Assad Syria.

• Work with Congress to impose crippling U.S. and multilateral sanctions on the Syrian government, especially on Syria’s energy, banking, and shipping sectors.

Unless the United States takes the lead and acts, either individually or in concert with like-minded nations, thousands of additional Syrian civilians will likely die, and the emerging civil war in Syria will likely ignite wider instability in the Middle East.  Given American interests in the Middle East, as well as the implications for those seeking freedom in other repressive societies, it is imperative that the United States and its allies not remove any option from consideration, including military intervention.

The Syrian people are asking for international assistance.  It is apparent that American leadership is required to ensure the quickest end to the Assad regime’s brutal reign, and to clearly show the Syrian people that, as you said on February 4, 2012, the people of the free world stand with them as they seek to realize their aspirations.

Sincerely,

Khairi AbazaJohn P. HannahJohn Podhoretz
Ammar AbdulhamidWilliam InbodenStephen Rademaker
Hussain Abdul-HussainBruce Pitcairn JacksonKarl Rove
Tony BadranAsh JainJonathan Schanzer
Paul BermanKenneth JensenRandy Scheunemann
Max BootAllison JohnsonGary J. Schmitt
Ellen BorkSirwan KajjoDaniel S. Senor
L. Paul BremerLawrence F. Kaplan Lee Smith
Matthew R. J. BrodskyIrina KrasovskayaHenry D. Sokolski
Elizabeth CheneyWilliam KristolDaniel Twining
Seth CropseyMichael LedeenPeter Wehner
Toby DershowitzTod LindbergKenneth R. Weinstein
James DentonHerbert I. LondonLeon Wieseltier
Mark DubowitzClifford D. MayR. James Woolsey
Nicholas EberstadtAnn MarloweKhawla Yusuf
Eric S. EdelmanRobert C. McFarlaneDov S. Zakheim
Jamie M. FlyJoshua MuravchikRobert Zarate
Reuel Marc GerechtMartin PeretzRadwan Ziadeh
Abe GreenwaldDanielle Pletka

(CNN) — One fateful consequence of President Bashar al-Assad’s ferocious crackdown on Syrian protesters is the emergence of the domestic armed resistance, the Free Syrian Army.Forged in neighboring Turkey over the summer by military defectors, the FSA has become a major factor in the opposition to the regime.

The grass-roots armed resistance is growing, attracting civilians as well as military defectors, and has become a thorn in the side of the Syrian military and the pro-regime militias, observers say. But it needs more personnel, better resources and improved coordination to take on the Syrian security presence, they add.

“The FSA is contributing to the strain on regime forces by requiring them to operate almost continuously and engage in frequent combat,” said Jeffrey White, a defense fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“This is in addition to the strain created by hundreds of peaceful civilian demonstrations across the country each week. The regime has been compelled to deploy larger forces and conduct more violent operations, increasing both its losses and the international visibility of its actions,” he said.

“Although attrition of regime personnel is not yet numerically significant, the spectacle of burned-out government vehicles and dead soldiers likely rallies the opposition and decreases morale among regime loyalists.”

White made remarks in a January 27 essay titled “The Free Syrian Army Bleeds the Assad Regime,” and elaborated on that analysis in an interview Wednesday.

He said government operations “in recent days have pushed the FSA to a lower level of activity.” But he also said the regime “has not been able to eradicate the FSA in any area.”

He said the FSA has been engaged in combat in at least six of the country’s 14 provinces — Idlib, Hama, Homs, Deir Ezzor, Daraa, and Rif Dimashq. Rif Dimashq includes the Damascus suburbs.

The fighters have been “inflicting greater losses on regime personnel and equipment than at any time since its involvement in the uprising began,” White said.

He said about 180 clashes were reported between early November and late January. One-third occurred in Idlib province and about a quarter in Daraa, while clashes have increased in Rif Dimashq.

The group has operated openly in places like Idlib province and the cities of Homs, Hama and Zabadani, and it has established control over some small pockets.

“Their most common operations include attacking regime positions (primarily checkpoints), defending demonstrators and local areas, and ambushing regime forces,” White said.

Rebels say they are not getting weapons and money from outside groups. White said most of the weapons are captured or bought from the Syrian military. Some smuggling is reported, he added.

The rebels are getting better armed, with more and better antitank weapons, and the number of defections is growing, White said.

The FSA’s acquisition of advanced antitank weapons is to date “the most significant arms development,” he said. It claims to have used an RPG-29, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, to destroy an infantry fighting vehicle in Daraa.

“Several videos suggest it has guided antitank missiles as well,” White said.

“It seems to have no shortage of small arms and light crew-served weapons, including assault rifles, medium machine guns, standard rocket-propelled grenades, and scoped/sniper rifles. The FSA also claims to be employing improvised explosive devices against regime vehicles, and videos have corroborated this. In addition, it has begun using vehicles for tactical troop movement, equipped with improvised armor and machine guns.”

There have been a number of cases of soldiers defecting with armored vehicles, he said.

The FSA claimed to have as many as 40,000 personnel. White said 4,000 to 7,000 is a “more reasonable estimate” but there has been a “substantial increase” from November. He said the size of group defections is growing, from the five to 20 people to platoon-sized defections of 30 or so people.

There are 38 named battalions in the FSA, some more closely associated with the central command than others, White said.

While there is guidance from FSA headquarters, there appears to be no day-to-day control. White said FSA battalions appear to be fighting alone and haven’t yet shown “they can coordinate operations on a regional basis.”

“Essentially these battalions are largely independent operations. There’s no substructure underneath the FSA command in Turkey that operates the battalions,” he said.

“It is unclear to what extent the FSA’s command in Turkey exercises real control over operations, other than providing general guidance. It is also uncertain how much freedom of action Turkey allows these commanders. This means that FSA units are essentially conducting independent actions while the regime conducts coordinated operations.”

Civilians have been joining FSA units because of the “synergy” between the resistance group and the populace, he said. Some civilians are locals who simply link up with battalions and there may be local defense groups forming under the Free Syrian Army banner.

“Some of these groups may have civilians who joined them. My sense is that the core, the primary combat forces, are coming from defectors,” he said.

The group is also working to develop closer relations with the Syrian National Council, the political opposition.

While coordinating operations is one challenge for the FSA, others are cohesion and military limitations. News of a power struggle has emerged in recent days between FSA head Col. Riad al Assad and a general, Mustapha Sheikh, forming a rival Higher Military Council. Another group, the Al Faroukh Battalion, said it is operating outside the control of both groups.

FSA Lt. Col. Mohamed Hamado told CNN that “many of the officers fighting on the ground have pledged allegiance” to Sheikh. “They operate from the Turkish/Syrian borders at the refugee camps, while we are fighting on the ground and are very organized,” he said.

White said any rift wouldn’t help them but it’s not having an effect on combat. It would have a greater effect if a world player decided it wanted to funnel money to the fighters.

U.S. lawmakers such as Sen. John McCain said Washington should consider arming such rebels.

White said it wouldn’t surprise him if international clandestine services are feeling out the FSA to see “what they are made of,” but there’s no solid evidence of any outside help.

Hamado said that despite the FSA’s efforts “it cannot defeat Assad’s army with the weapons he is using. He has escalated his attacks by using helicopters, rocket launchers and mortars.”

The Syrian regime is dominated by the Alawite minority. The Syrian opposition has a large Sunni component.

Hamado said there are concerns that among world powers that arms would fall into the hands of Islamists.

“The international community is reluctant to donate weapons because the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood is highly represented” in the Syrian National Council.

While Syrian militants wait for outside help, Hamado said the regime has backing from outside entities — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in Syria.

“We have captured Iranian fighters from the Revolutionary Guard and broadcast the videos showing the weapons they used to refute claims that they were technicians. Many civilians and eyewitnesses gave testimonials about Iranians storming into their homes during the searches and arrests along with Assad’s army recruits.”

Based in Latakia, on the coast, Hamado said, he has seen signs of the Hezbollah modus operandi.

“What we know for sure is that the regime is digging trenches around Latakia coast just the same way they are dug in southern Lebanon, which is controlled by Hezbollah. Assad’s Army has installed rocket launchers in the mountains of Latakia and are in a process of setting up a self-sustained region similar to the Hezbollah establishment in Lebanon, in order to have a base after Assad falls,” Hamado said.

Aram Nerguizian, visiting fellow with Burke chair in strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that despite some operational and tactical victories in the provinces of Idlib, Hama and Homs and in some Damascus suburbs, the Syrian military “continues to control many key checkpoints leading to rebel-held neighborhoods and districts.”

The FSA needs “better organization, leadership, command and control and more military personnel and hardware” to compete with the government’s “security apparatus” and resilient military. Nerguizian said its manpower is in the low thousands and “there are few indications that the force has been able to establish a clear chain of command.”

He added that “elements of the armed opposition seem to be operating outside the umbrella of the FSA and cities like Homs and Hama have seen the emergence of home-grown armed groups or militias intent on defending their neighborhoods against the crackdown.”

While there have been defections, he said, “there seems to have been far more outright desertions than shifts of forces to the FSA.”

As for Syrian military leaders, they back the regime because of fear of reprisals if al-Assad’s rule ends and their “deep aversion to prolonged instability.” But the prospect of a split in the military could be a good sign for the resistance forces.

“While the Syrian military needed time to absorb the shock of mounting internal opposition, it now appears to be on the offensive and it is likely to remain critical to the survival of the Assad regime. Should it experience real divisions in the future, the FSA may be able to take advantage,” Nerguizian said.

CNN’s Joe Sterling reported from Atlanta. Journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy reported from Cairo.