White House admits Syria strategy not working

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney speaks during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, May, 3, 2012. / AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - The White House says it may be time for the world to "admit defeat" in its current approach to violence in Syria.

It's the clearest statement yet the Obama administration sees little hope for a ceasefire brokered by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan.

"If the regime's intransigence continues the international community is going to have to admit defeat and work to address the serious threat to peace and stability being perpetrated by the Assad regime," said White House press secretary Jay Carney.

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Syrian forces are violating the ceasefire, but so far, other nations that back it have been unwilling to say it is dead.

Carney said that if the Syrian regime keeps flouting the ceasefire, the United States and other nations should try other measures to pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad.

He said that would include a return to the United Nations Security Council.

The White House press secretary added that while the administration continues to hope that the Annan plan succeeds "it is clear and we will not deny that the plan has not been succeeding thus far."

The U.S. is not considering a military intervention in Syria now.

In response to an overnight raid on a peaceful student protest in Aleppo that was met with gunfire, beatings, and scores of arrests, Carney said that the violence points to the urgent need for a political transition.

He said Assad's regime has made no effort to take the necessary steps to implement a full cease fire.

[VincentLawrence]

Syria, along with all the nations that were hit by the Arab Spring
were desperately trying to get U.S. TROOPS on the ground in those countries.
What happens when we send our troops in a foreign country,we also sent Billions of Dollars, soon they are so pleased and grateful for all the help, about this time they start using Our Troops for their Targets,
We fire back, and they sue us and we give them more Billions of $$.

[slatep]

Post should read: It's about time.

It only took the US a little over a year to come to this conclusion.

The situation here in the US isn't much better.

In the past 3 1/2 years; our government hasn't accomplished anything to benefit the American people either.

We need to find a "leader" who can guide us out of this quagmire we find ourselves ,because GB2, Obama and the Congress for the last 11 1/2 years sure as hell haven't been able to come up with any solutions.

[euge005]

Well to be accurate, we have that leader and the people that caused the problems to start with have blocked any of the efforts to fix them. But the critissm of Obama regarding the effotrts to undio the damage by Bush, hold proper trials for him & his war criminal cronies, arrest everyone involved with the Deep Horizon fiasco. These are all justified complaints. We need a real Democrat that protects the 99% of us that cannot go to a 10,000$ a plate dinner to get heard. But Mittens sure is not that person.

[stormerF69]

Seems Libya and Egypt's strategy is not working either so maybe we should just keep the hell out of other countries problems?? Damn what a novel thought?

[beowulf20]

No one said you have to go and help them, let the rest of us that care about these people do what we want.