Assad continues to butcher his own people: White House

Washington, May 23: Calling for an end to violence in Syria, the White House has said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continued to butcher his own people and therefore he is needed to go.

"There is no question that Bashar al-Assad continues to butcher his own people, to take brutal actions as he clings onto power. And there is no question that Hezbollah is assisting him in that effort," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Wednesday.

"I think that demonstrates the kinds of friends that Bashar al-Assad has in the world. We have made clear our views on that," he said.

Responding to a question on the German assessment that Assad regime is stronger now, Carney without directly referring to the assessment of a foreign government said, the authoritarian Syrian regime is significantly weaker than it was two years ago.

"In that time, the opposition has gotten significantly more organised. It has received assistance from a variety of places, including from the United States. Our efforts to assist the opposition, working with our partners and allies, continue," he said.

"Our efforts with the international community to -- and with the opposition -- towards implementing the Geneva Communique continue, because we believe that ultimately there has to be a political transition, and that the sooner that process begins the better, and that that process has to result in a post-Assad Syria," he said.

Carney said it is definitely a "brutal environment" in Syria and Assad continues to cling onto power.

"When we review our options and when the President reviews our options, and he reviews all options, including the question of whether or not to provide lethal assistance to the opposition, we have to look at all the factors, we constantly review that option," he said.

To this point, we have made the policy judgement that is not the right course to take," he added. Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell alleged the Assad regime is "unleashing an immense amount of brutality" on the people and they're doing so with the direct intervention of Hezbollah and Iran against the Syrian people.

"It needs to stop and the violence needs to end," he said.

Future of Syria cannot include Bashar al-Assad: US

While maintaining its earlier position on Syria, US has said the only outcome that is right for the people of west Asian country is the transition from the Assad era to a post-Assad era and strongly believed that Bashar al-Assad has no place in the country's future.

"Regardless of the options that the President is reviewing and the options that he implements, it is absolutely our position that the only outcome that is right for the Syria people is the transition in Syria from the Assad era to a post-Assad era," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Tuesday.

"It has long been our position that the best way to accomplish that is through a political transition," he added.

That is why, he said, the US along with the Russia has reinvigorated the Geneva framework that envisions that political transition.

Carney said that the future of the Syria cannot include Bashar al-Assad because he has the blood of his own people on his hands and he has proven himself to be a terrible tyrant and a murderer.

He said it's up to the Syrian opposition to decide which elements of Assad's regime could be included in a transitional government.

"They have made clear that they do not view Assad as having a role in that process. We have made clear that we do not believe that Assad has any place in Syria's future. "But obviously, the decisions about the process itself and who participates in it would have to be agreed to by the Syrian opposition," Carney said in response to a question.

Meanwhile, a legislation by bipartisan group of Senators which plans on a post-Assad Syria made its way through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"This legislation will provide critical support to the Syrian opposition through provision of military assistance, training, and additional humanitarian support," said Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He said that for the necessary political transition in Syria, moderate forces must gain the upper hand, and Assad must doubt his chances of survival.