That's not what I'm talking about. Funding and forceful actions are two things.

The rebels weren’t behind those fireballs. As the international community refuses to officially intervene, Mike Giglio on how regional players are stepping up their own involvement in Syria.

The airstrikes hit key military installations and were the second by Israel in as many days. Khatib was happy to see the Syrian Army dealt such a heavy blow. But the attacks also hammered home a grim reality—that the Syrian revolution, which started as a homegrown protest movement, is now a “battlefield for the world’s powers,” as Khatib puts it, echoing many in the opposition.

“They’re all looking out for their own interests in Syria,” Khatib says, “which makes Syrian blood a secondary concern.”

The conflict in Syria, analysts say, looks likely to continue this way: regional players stepping up their own involvement, even as the international community refuses to officially intervene. Salman Shaikh, the director of the Brookings Doha Center, says Syria’s neighbors are more anxious than ever—and increasingly likely to step in to pursue their own ends. “This is becoming an existential struggle,” Shaikh says.

[link to www.thedailybeast.com]