A senior American intelligence official on Saturday said that the Syrian conflict could last “many, many months to multiple years,” and described a situation that would most likely worsen regardless of whether the Syrian leader, President Bashar al-Assad, fell. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/world/middleeast/us-intelligence-official-says-syrian-war-could-last-for-years.html “If Bashar Assad were to succeed, he will be a more ruthless leader who will live with a legacy of tens of thousands of his civilians killed under him,”
“If he loses and goes to an enclave inside there, I think there will be ongoing civil war for years to come,” he said, noting that more radical elements like the Nusra Front would fight to control parts of the country. “They will fight for that space. They’re there for the long haul.”
“The reality is that, left unchecked, they (rebel groups) will become bigger. Over the last two years they’ve grown in size, they’ve grown in capability, and ruthlessly have grown in effectiveness.”
“It is in large measure a stalemate.”
“Al Qaeda Iraq will emerge stronger as a result of its experience inside of Syria,”
