A policy under fire in Syria

Amateur video out of Syria which could not be independently verified by Reuters shows no let up to the violence in Syria.

Now the United States is warning that if the U.N. Security Council does not take swift action to pressure the Syrian government to end its 14 month assault, nations may have no choice but to consider acting outside the U.N.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said there were three ways the Syrian conflict could end. The first would involve the Syrian government deciding to comply with the ceasefire. The second would involve the Security Council taking action to pressure Damascus to fully comply.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS, SAYING:

"In the absence of those two scenarios there seems to me to be only one other alternative. That is indeed the worst case and that is unfortunately at present the most probable. And that is that the violence escalates, the conflict spreads and intensifies, it reaches a higher degree of severity. It involves countries in the region, it takes on increasingly sectarian forms, and we have a major crisis not only in Syria but in the region."

She did not specify what kind of "actions" she meant. The United States has led past military interventions that were not authorized by the Security Council, namely in Kosovo and Iraq. So far the United States and its Western allies have rejected military options and said they would not arm the rebels.

Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters