WASHINGTON — President Bashar al-Assad’s gains on the battlefield have called the United States’ strategy on Syria into question, prompting the Obama administration to again consider military options, including arming the rebels and conducting airstrikes to protect civilians and the Syrian opposition, administration officials said on Monday.

Secretary of State John Kerry postponed a trip to the Middle East this week in part to focus on the Syria crisis, and the deteriorating situation in the country is the subject of a round of meetings inside the administration. The heightened debate on Syria reflects a concern that military developments on the ground have outpaced the Obama administration’s deliberations over how to respond to the crisis, which has killed more than 80,000 Syrians.

So far President Obama has steadfastly resisted even a modest involvement in the conflict, and there was no sign on Monday that a decision to use American force was imminent.

But Hezbollah’s large-scale entry into the fight in recent weeks and the Assad government’s firepower has tilted the battlefield in favor of the Syrian government.

“I think the rebels are in trouble,” said Jeffrey White, a former Middle East analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency who is now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Speed is of the essence. The regime’s momentum needs to be brought to a halt.”

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/wo...tions.html?hpw

I give Obama credit for not openly intervening to this point.