Bashar al-Assad continues his assault on the Syrian people in Homs.  It is safe to assume that America in conjunction with some other Western foreign governments is and has been supporting a rebellion through supplying of arms, intelligence, etc in combination with our special ops teams, NSA, CIA etc.
Bottom line – we’re waging a covert war and they’re waging an all out war.  And in the middle….are all the innocents dying mostly at the hands of Bashar al-Assad.  If he wanted to imprison people – he could, but he’d rather just kill them.

Obama’s order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence “finding,” broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad.
This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Assad’s armed opponents – a shift that intensified following last month’s failure of the U.N. Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus government.
The White House is for now apparently stopping short of giving the rebels lethal weapons, even as some U.S. allies do just that.

Syria’s master narrative landscape is highly competitive, characterized by conflict across ethnic, sectarian, and political lines. Almost all of Syria’s master narratives overtly label adversaries, and the few that do not offer key influencers the flexibility to rally followers against a wide array of perceived foes. Depending on the audience, these alleged antagonists may include the regime, the West, Sunni Muslims, or Syria’s neighbors. Subscribers to these master narratives frequently believe they are enmeshed in an existential struggle with these adversaries.
Through the lens of these master narratives, the cost of “losing” to one’s adversary ranges from lost status and precious resources to survival of entire cultures and sects. By understanding these tensions, communicators and analysts will be better equipped to anticipate how domestic Syrian conflicts may evolve, how Syria will position itself relative to its neighbors, and how US actions and policies are likely to be perceived by Syrian audiences.

Under the command of one of Libya’s most well known rebel commanders, Al-Mahdi al-Harati, more than 30 Libyan fighters have made their way into Syria to support the Free Syrian Army rebels in their war against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Al-Harati, who commanded the Tripoli Revolutionary brigade — which was the first group of rebels to enter the Libyan capital last August — has been in Syria for months leading some of his former men and Syrian military defectors who have joined his “Liwaa al-Umma” or “The Banner of the Nation” brigade.