Reports are emerging over the past several days of an imminent new rebel offensive against Assad government positions in southern Syria. The offensive is coming out of Jordan, where the US is training and bankrolling rebel fighters.

The push is coming largely at the behest of the US and Saudi governments, which envision the establishment of a “southern front” of the war driven by more moderate rebels as a counterpoint to al-Qaeda’s dominance of the rebel-held north.

The Obama Administration appears to be hoping that a more moderate wing of the rebellion could be parlayed into direct US military involvement in Syria, and the president is still stinging after failing to sell the war to the American public last year.

The new offensive will be called Geneva Horan, and in addition to the immediate Jordan frontier, the rebels are also expected to focus on the frontier with Israel.