“We also know from many sources that there are people around Assad who are beginning to hedge their bets ..."

"...Clinton, speaking to reporters, raised the prospect of a coup to remove Assad, who has withstood an almost yearlong rebellion.

“We also know from many sources that there are people around Assad who are beginning to hedge their bets ... they didn’t sign up to slaughter people,” Clinton said.

Clinton cited the cases last year of Tunisia and Egypt, where militaries stepped in to remove longtime autocratic leaders after popular protests. ... “We saw this happen in other settings last year,” Clinton said. “I think it is going to happen in Syria.”

Clinton’s suggestion that top Syrian officers might take matters into their own hands was an explicit recognition of one scenario that could avert an even longer struggle: removing the polarizing figure of Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years. Much of the opposition, including the Syrian National Council, has rejected negotiations with Assad and insisted that he must go.

Clinton and other Obama administration officials have hinted that they would like to see elements within Syria oust Assad. But Robert Danin, a former State Department official now with the Council on Foreign Relations, said Clinton’s statement Friday was “by far the most explicit call by the administration for what would be a coup.”