U.S. defense officials are accusing Iran of increased meddling in Syria, including efforts to bolster its flagging armed forces, who are weary after 18 months of war, the Associated Press reported Wednesday, August 15. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday that Iran is building and training a militia to help President Bashar Assad’s regime battle the rebel fighters trying to topple him. The Iranian efforts, said Panetta, will only add to the killing going on in the country and “bolster a regime that we think ultimately is going to come down.” Sitting alongside Panetta at a Pentagon news conference, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the militia, which is generally made up of Syrian Shiite forces, is being used to take the pressure off the Syrian regime forces.