SYRIA CIVIL WAR
- U.S. to send troops, missiles to Turkey
- NATO believes regime near collapse
- Assad staying despite power slide
- U.S.: Assad forces fire Scud missiles
- Russian official: Assad losing grip
U.S. to send troops, Patriot missiles to Turkey
December 14, 2012 -- Updated 1258 GMT (2058 HKT)
A member of the Syrian
opposition's Al-Buraq Brigade stands guard on a main road in the
northern Syrian town of Ain Dakna near the Turkish border on Monday,
December 10. Click through to view images of the fighting from December,
or see photos of the conflict from November.
HIDE CAPTION
Showdown in Syria
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: U.S. defense secretary is concerned what Syria's leader could do if cornered
- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed the order for missiles and troops en route to Turkey
- The U.S. military will send 400 personnel and two missile batteries to Turkey
- Move signals U.S. support for Turkey in the face of possible threats from Syria
The United States has
accused Damascus of launching Scud-type artillery from the capital at
rebels in the country's north. One Washington official said missiles
came close to the border of Turkey, a NATO member and staunch U.S. ally.
Syria's government called
the accusations "untrue rumors" Friday, according to state news agency
SANA. Damascus accused Turkey and its partners of instigating rumors to
make the government look bad internationally.
U.S. Defense Secretary
Leon Panetta signed the order while en route to Turkey to send two
Patriot missile batteries and 400 U.S. troops to operate them. The
surface-to-air interceptors will help in "dealing with threats that come
out of Syria," Panetta said after landing at Incirlik Air Base, a U.S.
Air Force installation about 80 miles from Syria's border.
Panetta was unconcerned
about possible reactions from Damascus to the Patriot deployment. "We
can't spend a lot of time worrying about whether that pisses off Syria,"
he said, adamant that helping Turkey was the priority.
Assad staying despite slide in power
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Syrian, 17, risks life to rescue
Signs of Syrian regime weakening
Panetta did say he was worried what Bashar al-Assad's government may do if it feels it is near collapse.
Descriptions
provided to CNN by U.S. officials familiar with the latest intelligence
suggest the Syrian leader's problems have accelerated internally as the opposition continues to capture more territory.
"It's at its lowest point
yet," said one senior U.S. official with direct knowledge of the latest
assessments. "The trend is moving more rapidly than it has in the
past."
The officials agreed to
talk on the condition their names not be used because they were not
authorized to discuss the information with the media.
When asked what the
response might be if Syria deployed chemical weapons, Panetta said that
the U.S. military had "drawn up plans" but that "it's not easy" to
defend against them.
Germany and the
Netherlands have shown willingness to add two Patriot batteries each
from their countries, NATO said Friday, to defend Turkey and
"de-escalate the crisis on NATO's southeastern border."
NATO has also said it
detected what appeared to be ballistic missile launches within Syria and
condemned their possible use as "utter disregard for the lives of the
Syrian people."
Turkey and NATO insist the Patriot system would be used only for defense.
Patriots are constructed
to take out threats from warplanes and tactical ballistic missiles to
unmanned aircraft by impacting with them in midair, according to
Raytheon Co., which builds them. The U.S. military used to take out Scud
missiles during the Iraq war.
CNN's Laura Smith-Spark and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
COPY http://edition.cnn.com
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