The White House is beginning to take a new look at options in Syria, a process that could take several weeks, U.S. officials have said.

“We have to examine what the alternatives some might be proposing are, and whether they’re in our national security interests, and whether a desire to do something about it could lead us, the United States, to take action that can produce the kind of unintended consequences we’ve seen in the past,” Carney told a news briefing. …

Secretary of State John Kerry has argued at numerous meetings at the White House for a more aggressive stand on Syria including arming opposition groups. The latter suggestion was repeatedly knocked down within the White House, current and former State Department officials said.

However, a senior administration official who briefed reporters before Obama’s meeting on Saturday with Jordan’s King Abdullah said that expanded aid to the rebels is a possibility – but only if it nudges the sides toward a diplomatic solution.