Analysts and U.S. officials **w view the chances of Syrian Rebels unseating President Bashar al-Assad increasingly slim. On Friday, Roy Gutman, Middle East bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers, claimed that there has been ?almost ** communication? between the U.S. and Syria-based moderate Rebels ?since the fall of Mosul? in June. Gutman spoke at a discussion hosted by the Middle East Institute in Washington, alongside Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who helped train soldiers in the new Iraqi army during 2003-2004. Drawing on that experience, Eaton emphasized that of the preferred options ?good, fast, and cheap,? only two are possible at a time, and that the administration seems to have settled on a solution with the Syrian opposition that is ?going to be good, going to be cheap, and going to take a long time.? However, it remains unclear whether a long-term negotiated political solution is viable given the current balance of power among the various sides in the Syrian civil war.