The administration of US President Barack Obama tried to organize a military coup in Syria for several years to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, the Wall Street Journal writes, referring to the US and Arab officials.

In 2011, the US government began to look for  cracks in the Syrian regime and especially among Alawite officers , who theoretically could lead a military regime change. Then,they failed in their atempt to find people who could betray and abandon Assad: a sufficient number of people capable of a military coup, was simply not found among the military leadership in Syria.

Despite the promised “various incentives” and “weak spots” in the country, the US could hardly find few traitors. At the same time, the US authorities continued keeping official contacts  with Bashar al-Assad. Sometimes the key politicians talked to each other directly, sometimes they sent messages through intermediaries, such as Russia and Iran, the newspaper writes.

By the summer of 2012, the US changed tactics – they decided to support the rebels. But these efforts were not successful because “Russia and Iran had started to play for high stakes”, acoording to WSJ.

Assad himself recently said that he would leave his post only by the will of the people, but not at the request of official Washington or the United Nations.

Read more on: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-pursued-secret-contacts-with-assad-regime-for-years-1450917657