[Extipletape]

Obama calls Putin as Syria spins 'out of control'



By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
Updated 5h 8m ago



CAPTION
By Carolyn Kaster, AP


President Obama called Russian President Vladimir Putin today as violence in Syria escalated to a point of near chaos."The two presidents noted the growing violence in Syria and agreed on the need to support a political transition as soon as possible that achieves our shared goal of ending the violence and avoiding a further deterioration of the situation," the White House announced. "They noted the differences our governments have had on Syria, but agreed to have their teams continue to work toward a solution."
White House press secretary Jay Carney said the latest explosion that killed Syria's defense minister and two other key allies of President Bashar Assad, including his brother-in-law, shows that the situation will deteriorate until the regime is ousted.
"We are seeing a situation that is getting worse and worse," Carney said, echoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's assessment that Syria is "spinning out of control."
Carney used the attack against the Assad regime to make the administration's point that until Assad agrees to step down or is overthrown, the violence will not let up. That's the message the U.S. and others have given Russia and China, who have stopped further action by the United Nations Security Council.
"The incident today makes clear that Assad is losing control, that violence is increasing rather than decreasing, and that all of our partners internationally need to come together and support a transition," Carney said.
"The window is closing," he said. "We need to take action in a unified way.