News Analysis 

Nearly two years after the Syrian uprising began, Secretary of State John Kerry announced the U.S. has for the first time agreed to directly supply Syria's opposition with $60 million in non-lethal aid. But, while this money is needed, it is unlikely to immediately change anything on the ground. 

Speaking under the condition of anonymity, supporters of the opposition working to topple Syrian President Bashar al Assad said they were privately disappointed that the U.S. didn't extend more assistance, specifically weapons, and that the EU has not yet lifted an arms embargo.

---

But the concern among U.S. officials is that extremist elements are increasingly filling in the vacuum in areas where the regime has been pushed back and the opposition is struggling to govern. There are worries weapons could end up in the wrong hands.

According to Salman Sheikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center, Kerry’s announcement is "unlikely to change the calculation of the Syrian regime's biggest allies — Russia, Iran and Hezbollah." They will not take the U.S. decision as a serious threat to the regime's survival. 

Sheikh, who has advocated for arming the rebels, says $60 million is an insignificant amount for an opposition that is now expected to operate like a government in some parts of Syria. The salaries of civil servants who are expected to maintain law and order, as well as the country’s justice, sanitation and education services, can cost close to $500 million a month. And Sheikh estimates humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the people displaced and suffering both inside and outside is about $40 million a day.

The U.S. aid package, which will assist the Syrian Opposition Coalition in 'liberated' areas, is aimed at helping the fledgling coalition expand the delivery of basic goods and services, including security, sanitation and educational services. The United States also will send technical advisers to support opposition staff in Egypt and work with the movement's military arm to provide non-lethal support to the Free Syrian Army, including things such as military rations and medical supplies to tend to sick and wounded fighters.

Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia and Qatar described Thursday's announcement as a transformational point in the Syrian conflict. And British Foreign Secretary William Hague said his government would be making an announcement on additional aid to the opposition next week. 

However, Yaser Tabbara, the spokesperson for the Coalition and its legal advisor, said Kerry’s Rome meeting with the head of the Syrian National Coalition, Moaz al Khatib, gave reason for "cautious" optimism.

The Syrian opposition is under increasing pressure to deliver a solution but doing so requires substantial "investment in the infrastructure of the armed opposition," Tabbara said. "A political solution without tipping the balance of power on the ground is not viable."

The Syrian opposition had promised to form an interim government by March 2 but that has been postponed for logistical reasons. 

Meanwhile, Syria's official government news agency described Kerry's announcement as a paradox, saying it expressed "Washington's desire to find means to speed up the political process, which aims at ending the crisis in Syria and its desire to help and back the armed terrorist groups in the country."

Related:

U.S. to send rations, medical supplies to Syrian rebels, but not weapons

 

The United States now considers the Syrian opposition coalition to be the "legitimate representative" of the nation, President Barack Obama said Tuesday.

"We've made a decision that the Syrian opposition coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime," Obama said in an interview with ABC News.

The move, which was widely expected, could give new international legitimacy to the rebels fighting to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad but stops short of authorizing the U.S. to arm the opposition, something Obama has steadfastly refused to do.

---

France, Britain, Turkey and the Gulf states led the way last month in recognizing the opposition coalition. But Washington held off until now, demanding the groups, dogged by splits and rivalries throughout their battle to end the Assad family's long authoritarian rule, do more to coalesce into a unified front.

Syrian defector: Violence is now part of my kids’ lives

A formal endorsement by Obama, accused by critics of failing to respond forcefully enough to the bloody Syrian conflict, could mark a new phase in his efforts to isolate Assad, who has defied repeated U.S. calls to step down.

But Obama made clear that he remains cautious about some of the armed Syrian factions linked to the political coalition and is not ready to start supplying weapons to the rebels, something he has steadfastly resisted despite demands from some Republican critics.

"Not everybody who's participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people who we are comfortable with," Obama said. "There are some who, I think, have adopted an extremist agenda, an anti-U.S. agenda, and we are going to make clear to distinguish between those elements." 

Winter brings more troubles for displaced Syrians

Obama specifically singled out the radical Islamist Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra,  which the United States on Tuesday designated as a foreign terrorist organization that it said was trying to hijack the rebellion on behalf of al-Qaida in Iraq. 

U.S. officials said the al-Nusra group had claimed responsibility for carrying out nearly 600 attacks in major cities that have killed numerous innocent Syrians during the uprising against Assad.

U.S. officials said it was an important signal both to the Syrian opposition and its foreign supporters, particularly in the Gulf, that al-Nusra and its ilk cannot play a part in Syria's eventual political transition.

Tuesday's action came as U.S. officials were set to attend the Friends of Syria meeting in Marrakech, to discuss the Syria crisis, as rebels push forward on the battlefield and move to unify the political opposition.

More world stories from NBC News:

• Analysis: Egypt is rapidly approaching its own 'cliff'
• Nelson Mandela suffers recurrence of lung infection
• Banking giant HSBC to pay record $1.9 billion in money-laundering case
• Suspect in US envoy's killing in Libya arrested in Egypt
• Parents: US Marine detained in Mexico for bringing shotgun across border
• Cuba's jailing of American contractor 'arbitrary,' UN panel concludes
• Nearly 900 left missing by Typhoon Bopha in the Philippines
• Video: Penguins in Tokyo take over as Santa’s elves

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook