"Right now, President Assad is receiving help from the Iranians, he's receiving help from al Qaeda-related, some elements, he's receiving help from Hezbollah, and obviously some help is coming in through the Russians. If he believes he can shoot it out, Syrians and the region have a problem and the world has a problem," he said.

Last week, Syrian rebels told CNN that the United States is helping organize training for Syrian rebels in Jordan in the use of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.

Opposition selects leader

A Syrian opposition umbrella group, meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, has chosen a U.S.-educated Kurdish businessman to head its provisional government, an opposition activist who attended the vote said Monday.

Ghassan Hitto, an information technology executive who went to college in Indiana and lived for many years in Dallas was elected Monday to lead a government whose specific role may be spelled out at a planned news conference Tuesday.

Hitto was born in Damascus and is a member of the board of the Syrian American Council, the council said in a news release after the vote.

The group said the decision should assuage the Obama administration's concerns about who would lead Syria should President Bashar al-Assad be deposed.

"This question has now been answered," the council's statement said.