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Article 3. New York Post High stakes in Syria Amir Taheri November 16, 2011 -- As Arab foreign ministers met in Rabat, Morocco, yesterday to discuss Syria, one question was on every mind: Is the country already in a civil war? Some of the facts on the ground suggest so. With more than 350 killed so far, November has been the bloodiest month since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began last spring. Defections from the army, which started as a trickle, now look like a torrent. In October, the number was around 800. The best total now available is about 17,000. The defectors have organized themselves as the Free Syrian Army and are creating credible command-and- control structures. Since September, the FSA has carried out a number of symbolic attacks against the regime. And now the “shadow army,” as Syrians call it, seems to be planning more spectacular operations. On Monday, the FSA claimed an attack on an army convoy near Deraa, the southwestern town where the revolution started. Official accounts reported at least 34 soldiers killed. Yesterday, the FSA attacked the headquarters of the Air Force Intelligence Agency at Harasta near the capital Damascus. Since Hafez al-Assad, an air-force officer and Bashar’s father, seized power in a coup in 1970, the AIA has been the nerve center of the regime’s security system. Also this week, reports surfaced of attacks by armed tribesmen on three military outposts near the Iraqi border. Despite all that, it may be premature to speak of civil war in Syria. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031949