[Washington Post] Al-Qaeda-linked rebels launched an assault Wednesday on a regime-held Christian village in the densely populated west of Syria and new festivities erupted near the capital, Damascus -- part of a brutal battle of attrition each side believes it can win despite more than two years of deadlock.As the world focused on possible U.S. military action against Syria, rebels commandeered a mountaintop hotel in the village of Maaloula and shelled the community below, said a nun, speaking by phone from a convent in the village. She spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.