Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a vocal supporter of U.S. military action to support Syrian rebels attempting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, has snuck over the Turkish border into Syria in order to meet with rebels, according to CBS News.
Mouaz Mustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, said that McCain's trip has been in planning for "weeks, if not months," according to CBS News.
"It's something the Senator has wanted to do for quite some time because he's proactive on the subject of the U.S. being more directly involved in Syria and helping to create the necessary changes on the ground to end the conflict," Mustafa told CBS News.
McCain met with General Salim Idris, chief of staff of the Free Syrian Army, as well as 18 other leaders of the rebellion while in Syria. Gen. Idris told Sen. McCain that the rebels need weapons, a no-fly zone to be created and for airstrikes against the government if they are to win the war, according to the BBC.
"The visit of Senator McCain to Syria is very important and very useful especially at this time," Gen. Idris told The Daily Beast. "We need American help to have change on the ground; we are now in a very critical situation."
In recent days Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has thrown their full support to al-Assad as he struggles to hold on to power in Syria.Military analysts believe that Hezbollah wouldn't have gotten involved in the situation if they thought the American military would be supporting the Syrian rebels.
"(Hezbollah) wouldn't do this if they thought there was going to be some sort of reaction," Andrew J. Tabler, a Syria analyst with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told The New York Times. "They're basically calling Obama's bluff."
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers told CBS News about how the Syrian rebels have very little chance of victory if the U.S. does not intervene.
"With Hezbollah throwing in so strongly on the side of the Assad regime, the rebels are going to be disadvantaged here and probably can't make much more progress," Myers said.
While the Obama administration has shown little interest in arming the rebels, especially with U.N. led peace talks in the near future, CBS News analyst Pamela Falk suggests McCain may be showing where U.S. support truly lies by making this trip.
"By trying to engage the rebels, in particular the Free Syrian Army, McCain may be showing American support that the administration feels it cannot, and help bring the opposition to the table," Falk told CBS News.
Peace discussions between the Syrian rebels and the al-Assad regime led by the United Nations are scheduled to take place in the middle of June.
