Eventually, Syrian president Bashar-al Assad will fall from power. When that will happen has been the subject of much speculation. Appearing on NPR’s On Point, CBS News foreign correspondent Clarissa Ward, who won a 2012 Peabody Award for her reporting on the Syrian uprising, had this to say about “the endgame and the final chapter and the final countdown” and all the other clichés we have been hearing:

[T]he reality on the ground is that the regime still has some fight left in it. They are still militarily far superior to rebel forces. Rebel forces are still desperately lacking the heavy weaponry they would need to seriously take on the regime militarily. They are still not a cohesive fighting force with a clear command structure. There is still almost no coordination among the various rebel groups. So I think it’s a little early to talk about the final countdown. But certainly what we’ve seen transpiring in Damascus over the past few days … I think it is a turning point. We have opened a new chapter even if it’s not the final chapter in this.