The top U.S. envoy to Syria warned Thursday, December 6 that extremists were gaining influence in the Syrian opposition and that this influence would only increase the longer fighting dragged on in the Levant country, The Jerusalem Post reported. Speaking in Washington, U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford described extremist groups that had “little by little been gaining influence among the armed opposition.” He pointed particularly to an al-Qaeda affiliate in Iraq that is now operating in Syria. Extremist elements, which are still a minority among the opposition, pose “an obstacle to finding the political solution that Syria needs,” he said. Ford added his assessment that Assad’s days in power were numbered. “It’s very clear that the regime’s forces are being ground down and that they are losing,” he said. “The writing is on the wall.”