As she leaves, Clinton sounds warning over Syria

[No Elephants]

Jan 31, 10:09 PM EST

As she leaves, Clinton sounds warning over Syria

By BRADLEY KLAPPER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton issued a parting warning Thursday about Syria's civil war, accusing Iran of playing an increasingly prominent role in directing the violence, which she said heightened the danger of a larger regional conflict that draws in Israel or other neighbors.

"I've done what was possible to do," Clinton told reporters on the eve of her last day as secretary of state.

But she painted a harrowing picture of a war that could still get worse.

"The worst kind of predictions about what could happen internally and spilling over the borders of Syria are certainly within the realm of the possible now," she said.

The conflict "is distressing on all fronts," Clinton told a roundtable of journalists Thursday, a day before John Kerry is sworn in as her successor. She pointed the finger primarily at Iran, accusing it of dispatching more personnel and better military materiel to President Bashar Assad's regime to help him defeat rebel forces. Its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, is also playing a bigger role in the conflict.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CLINTON_SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-31-22-09-16

And, as Panetta left, he warned against cuts to the defense budget.

[Enthusiast]

1. We simply must have new wars.

These old wars are getting..........old.

[No Elephants]

2. Yes, new wars are ever so much more fun than the ones old enough to hit puberty.