{mosads}More than 9,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began 14 months ago, despite international efforts that have so far stopped short of military aid to the rebels. Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan’s six-point peace plan “has not been succeeding,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said last week, raising the possibility of greater U.S. involvement, with unknown consequences just months before the presidential election.
Meanwhile, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is expected to start briefing his colleagues Tuesday on the results of his trip last week to Israel, Egypt and Jordan, where the subject of what to do about Syria has been high on everyone’s mind.