The Hill newspaper reports President Obama overruled his senior staff on a plan to arms Syrian rebels:
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday revealed that he had endorsed a proposal to provide arms to rebel fighters who are battling to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad. The plan also had the support of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former CIA director David Petraeus.
Obama opted against the plan over concerns about the rebels' trustworthiness and doubts about whether the weapons would help their cause, according to Carney.