Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad has instructed his commanders to attack Israel and American targets if he is assassinated, according to rumors published in state-linked Iranian press outlets that place Assad at meetings with top commanders. Other reports, this time published in Saudi media, place Assad and his family on an offshore Russian warship in the Mediterranean, with Assad having lost “confidence” in his personal security detail. Misinformation from both sides regarding the location and security of strongmen is a hallmark of late fighting in civil wars such as the one which has gripped Syria for almost two years, claiming more than 60,000 lives. Speculation that the Assad regime is in terminal decline has prompted an increase in the tempo of analysis regarding the potential for a hard-line Islamist takeover of Syria.