News Wednesday morning out of Damascus was devastating for the Assad regime. Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha is dead; deputy defense chief and Assad brother-in-law Assef Shawkat is also reportedly dead. Other senior regime members are in hospital. Some reports indicate the bomber was an Assad bodyguard. 

Since the attack, fighting has continued in Damascus and thousands have fled ruthless regime reprisals.  Rumor has it that Bashar himself has left the capital for his family hometown of Latakia.  Presumably, from there he will have the option of ending his rule as Tunisia's ex-President Zine Abedine Ben Ali did - in exile; or as Libyan dictator did - in a pool of blood.

Time is running short for all who have supported Assad, tacitly or explicitly, to explain themselves.  Among them, first and foremost the Iranians, for whom Assad is a key client.  But Iran is on its heels, and Syria is its only creature in an increasingly hostile Middle East.