(Newser)
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Anti-American sentiment is growing in Syria, where rebels are increasingly frustrated that the US is not giving them more support. "All we get is words," says a Free Syrian Army spokesperson. The Syrian opposition says it does not want direct military intervention, but it has asked many times for weapons and a no-fly zone like the one that was enacted in Libya. Particularly frustrating to the rebels is the fact that Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia have begun transitioning to democracies while Syria's conflict drags on with no end in sight. And the resentment toward America could certainly be bad news if President Bashar al-Assad is eventually overthrown, the Washington Post notes.
"America will pay a price for this," the spokesperson says. "America is going to lose the friendship of Syrians, and no one will trust them anymore. Already we don’t trust them at all." But analysts say America has helped by providing communications equipment and other nonlethal aid, and that it's not clear whether the US should be doing more than that. Meanwhile, the Syrian government claims it has taken full control of the Salah al-Din district, a strategic area in Aleppo, after weeks of fighting. But the rebels deny they have been pushed out of the area, the BBC reports.
