Members of the Obama Administration are confirming tonight that the National Security Council has been instructed to begin seeking options for US intervention in Syria, including what they call the “unlikely” option of setting up a no-fly zone.

The process is being led by NSC Director Steve Simon, and is said to involve top members of the State, Defense and Treasury Departments. The focus is on ways to “aid” the Syrian opposition.

Unspoken in all of this, of course, is exactly which segments of the Syrian opposition the administration are looking to aid, though it seems likely that the administration will use the time-honored tactic of principally aiding groups in favor of a large, long-term US presence in the nation.

Among the options considered are providing “humanitarian aid” to rebel forces and establishing a “safe zone” inside Syrian territory (presumably through military means) near the Turkish border, something which has said to be on the table for Turkey as well. Officials say the talks are preliminary and no moves are expected soon, but that they are a “recognition” that the last round of sanctions against the regime did not work.