The United States and allied countries are boosting their support for Syrian rebels fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. On Sunday, the Obama administration and at least 60 other governments agreed to pay the rebels $100 million in aid. The United States has also pledged to send communications equipment to help the rebel forces. The move marks the most direct U.S. intervention in an Arab Spring conflict since the United States took part in the NATO bombing of Libya last year. Speaking at the “Friends of Syria” conference in Turkey, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton touted the growing U.S. role in Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “Today, we called for an immediate end to the killing in Syria, and we urged the joint special envoy, Kofi Annan, to set a timetable for next steps. The world will not waver. Assad must go, and the Syrian people must be free to choose their own path forward. But the United States is also going beyond humanitarian aid and providing support to the civilian opposition, including communications equipment that will help activists organize, evade attacks by the regime and connect to the outside world.”