Newly arrived Syrian refugees are seen at Ceylanpinar refugee camp, Sanliurfa province, Turkey, November 10, 2012.
U.S. officials are calling for more international aid to Syria's population, with nearly half a million Syrians now refugees from the 20-month-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford says the United States will press others in the international community to provide increased humanitarian aid for Syrians at next month's high-level diplomatic meeting of the so-called "Friends of the Syrian People."
Speaking at a conference in Washington Thursday, the ambassador also suggested that the U.S. government could eventually recognize Syria's newly-formed opposition council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
"We would like to see them continue to develop as an organization, as a coalition. They are making real progress, and I expect that our position with them will evolve as they themselves develop," said Ford.
Any formal recognition from Washington would put the United States in line with several of its European and Arab allies. It also would open the door for more U.S. assistance for Syrians.
So far, the United States is the biggest bilateral donor of humanitarian aid to the country with nearly $200 million already provided.
Since February, the number of Syrian refugees has increased from 15,000 to nearly half a million, while the number of civilians displaced inside the country has increased 25-fold to almost one million.
The State Department's Kelly Clements, who helps oversee U.S. aid for Syria, says these growing numbers will increase the Syrian people's calls for aid.
"The needs will likely double going forward in terms of the first half of 2013," she said.
However, the current response plans - which expire at the end of the year - still are barely halfway funded. Clements attributes this to donor fatigue.
"Syria is one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world today, but it is not the only one. We have the Sahel obviously, Sudan and other humanitarian emergencies around the world, and I think what we are seeing is donors trying to balance to the extent possible these competing needs, which continue to rise," she said.
Clements says another problem is that it is difficult to get accurate information out of Syria on what the people there need.
Thousands Flee Syria to Escape Violence
1/12Syrian refugees try to cross the border fence from the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain into Turkey during an air strike on Ras al-Ain, in the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, Turkey, November 13, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
2/12Newly arrived Syrian refugees are seen at Ceylanpinar refugee camp, Sanliurfa province, Turkey, November 10, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
3/12A Syrian girl who fled with her family carries a plastic container over her head as she walks to fill it with water at a displaced camp in the Syrian village Atma, near the Turkish border with Syria, November 10, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
4/12People from the northern Syrian town Ras al-Ain attempt to cross into Turkey, as seen from the Turkish border town of Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, November 13, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
5/12A Syrian family who fled from violence sits next to their belongings at a displaced camp in the Syrian village Atma, near the Turkish border with Syria, November 7, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
6/12A Syrian baby cries as he lays on a swing attached to a tree at a camp in the Syrian village Atma, near the Turkish border with Syria, November 5, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
7/12A Syrian boy, who fled his home with his family due to fighting between government forces and rebels, plays near his tent at a refugee camp near the Turkish border, Azaz, Syria, October 7, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
8/12A Turkish police officer checks identification cards of Syrian men after they crossed from Syria to Turkey at the Akcakale border gate, October 4, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
9/12A Syrian man, who fled his home due to government shelling, holds his son at Bab Al-Salameh border crossing, hoping to cross to a refugee camps in Turkey, near the Syrian town Azaz, September 12, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
10/12An elderly Syrian man, who fled his home due to fighting, takes refuge at the Bab Al-Salameh border crossing, in hopes of entering one of the refugee camps in Turkey, near the Syrian town of Azaz, August 23, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
11/12A Syrian girl, who fled her home with her family due to violence, looks back while checking her laundry, at the Bab Al-Salameh border crossing near the Syrian town of Azaz, August 26, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
12/12Syrian refugees walk through the Dumez refugee camp in Dahuk, northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, August 13, 2012.
As violence continues across Syria, thousands of people are fleeing to camps and trying to cross the border out of the country.
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Thursday's news that the Syrian government had cut the country's Internet access and phone service promised to further complicate the issue.
Ambassador Ford says it is clear that the Syrian military is weakening. But he insists that U.S. aid should not, at this time, extend to arming the opposition, which continues to ask for weapons.
"Arms are not a strategy. Arms are a tactic. Efforts to win this by conquering one side or the other will simply prolong the violence, and frankly, aggravate an already terrible humanitarian situation. Syria needs a political solution," he said.
But Ford says there is no sign yet of any political deal between the opposition and the government, so the fighting that has claimed tens of thousands of lives will continue.
