'Your days are numbered,' U.S. official tells al-Assad

cnn.com ^ | 2/7/12 | Tom Watkins, Josh Levs and Holly Yan

[ColdOne]

(CNN) -- As violence raged in Syria, U.S. officials made clear Tuesday that the United States has lost patience with President Bashar al-Assad.

"Your days are numbered," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said in comments directed at the Syrian leader. "It is time and past time for you to transfer power responsibly and peacefully."

Her remarks came as two senior administration officials told CNN that, while the U.S. focus remains on exerting diplomatic and economic pressure on Damascus, the Pentagon and U.S. Central Command have begun a preliminary internal review of U.S. military capabilities in order to prepare options in the event that President Obama calls for them.

Still, one of the officials said, "This remains a campaign to apply economic and diplomatic pressure." Neither official was willing to be identified because neither is authorized to talk to the news media.

[U-238]

Christaians consist of 10 percent of the population in Syria.They have been there since the 5th century. It is the largest Greek Orthodox Antioch denomination.Syrian Christians have their own courts that deal with civil cases like marriage, divorce and inheritance based on Bible teachings.They support Assad because they know what happened to Christians in Egypt by the hands of Conservative Sunnis.Also, Christians are represented in the opposition, and loyalty to the government is often driven more by fear than fervor.

[AllAmericanGirl44]

That she is - also, wasn’t it her blabbering about the ‘right to return’ nonsense?

[freeangel]

I was kind of hoping assad would say something similar to obama.

[Hughesian]

Assad is part of the Alawite minority so his regime is neccessarily secular. His opponents are the same Muslim Brotherhood Islamist dogs that his uncle butchered back in the 80s. The Christians know their only hope for survival is to stick with Assad.

[JSteff]

This could get complicated.
Not complicated, but convenient for Obamas crew. When else does he have two who are on his eliminate list that he can attack with no concern.... this is the stuff of dreams. Expect attacks on both Assad and the Christians.

[DoughtyOne]

"Your days are numbered,"...

Is this what Obama said to Assad, or what Assad said to Obama?

[Jack Hammer]

Well, hey, look how well regime change in Libya and Egypt has worked out.

That’s right - keep trying to impose American cultural standards on the Middle East; we’re not quite at World War III yet, but we can certainly get there under Obama’s guidance.