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they trundled through Washington in a rustyAudi 2000. “There are these activists, andthey need passports.”

Mr. Barabandi thought for a few seconds,then said he would help.

War forces people to think about whichside they are on and how much they are pre-pared to do for it.

Mr. Barabandi, a career Syrian diplomat,became an opposition mole, working on be-half of moderate elements battling the As-sad regime. With limited U.S. support, thesegroups have been struggling to hold onamid a battering from Syrian regime forcesand Islamist militants competing for thesame territory. The White House now is

promising to provide support, mainly tohelp counter the militants, known as IslamicState.

In his embassy post over the course of ayear, Mr. Barabandi issued travel documentsfor nearly 100 Syrian activists, according tointerviews with him and more than a dozenopposition leaders. Through his efforts, ac-tivists were able to flee and campaignagainst the same regime he officially repre-sented.

Mr. Barabandi kept the arrangement se-cret even from his family. Associates usedcryptic messages to arrange rendezvouspoints. Unmarked envelopes were exchanged

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WASHINGTON—Bassam Barabandi, a dip-lomat in the Syrian embassy here, was leav-ing Ramadan prayers at a mosque late onenight two years ago when he ran into an op-ponent of the Syrian regime. Mr. Barabandiknew the man slightly and offered him a ridehome.

The chance conversation that followedtransformed the diplomat’s life. It also al-tered the fortunes of scores of Syrians work-ing to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“I need to ask you something,” the regimeopponent, Mohammed Alaa Ghanem, said as

DJIA 17156.85 À 24.88 0.15% NASDAQ 4562.19 À 0.2% NIKKEI 15888.67 g 0.1% STOXX600 344.39 À 0.5% 10-YR. TREAS. g 4/32 , yield 2.600% OIL $94.42 g $0.46 GOLD $1,234.40 g $0.80 EURO $1.2865 YEN 108.37

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What’sNews

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World-Widen Obama will exert a highdegree of personal controlover airstrikes against Is-lamic State militants inSyria, officials said. A1nThe House voted to trainand arm Syrian rebels in thefirst test of congressionalbacking for Obama’s plan. A4n Syrian warplanes bom-barded rebel-held areas in thelatest round of an intensifiedcampaign of airstrikes. A13nRussia praised a Ukrainianlaw granting new self-gover-nance powers to rebel-held ar-eas, a measure some in Kievcall a giveaway toMoscow. A15n Indian and Chinese forceswere locked in a border dis-pute as China’s president ar-rived in India in a trip aimedat boosting economic ties. A20nAustralian police carriedout raids to thwart what theysaid were planned attacks byIslamic State supporters. A20n The U.S. needs to revampits approach to end-of-lifecare, a report by an influen-tial health committee said. A3nArtificial sweeteners canraise the blood sugar levelinstead of reducing it, ac-cording to a new study. A6n Scotland’s vote on indepen-dence is expected to draw arecord turnout. Polls gave pro-union backers a slim lead. A14n Libya’s primeminister pre-sented a cabinet for parlia-mentary approval amid a po-litical and security crisis. A13n South Korean authoritiesquestioned a U.S. citizen theysuspect tried to swim across ariver into North Korea. A14

i i i

The Fed took steps to-ward winding down its

easy-money policies butstopped short of signalingwhen rates will start to rise. A1 The Dow ended 24.88 pointshigher at a record 17156.85in the wake of the Fedmeeting.Treasury prices fell. C1, C4n Early investors in Alibabawill be able to sell more than$8 billion in shares on the daythe company goes public. A1n Sony said it expects a $2.15billion loss for the year andwon’t pay a dividend as itsmobile unit slumps further. B1n The Justice Departmenthas been unable to recoverbillions of dollars owed tovictims of financial fraud. C1n Latour agreed to settle SECcharges in the agency’s firstenforcement action against ahigh-frequency trading firm. C1nNike is suspending its en-dorsement deal with NFL starAdrian Peterson. The Cardinals’Jonathan Dwyer was arrestedon assault charges. B1, D6n Trian’s proposal to breakup DuPont isn’t a sure shot,analysts said, as the investorwent public with its call. B1n Bayer plans to shed itsplastics business, part of ashift from chemicals. B2nAn FDApanel said testoster-one-drug makers should studyheart attack and stroke risks.B2n General Mills’ profit slid25% on weak demand for ce-real and packaged foods. B4nAmazon introduced devicesincluding a $100 tablet and ahigh-end Kindle e-reader. B6

Business&Finance

Alibaba IPOGives InsidersRare ChanceTo Sell Early

WASHINGTON—The U.S. mili-tary campaign against Islamistmilitants in Syria is being de-signed to allow President BarackObama to exert a high degree ofpersonal control, going so far asto require that the military ob-tain presidential signoff forstrikes in Syrian territory, offi-cials said.

The requirements for strikes

in Syria against the extremistgroup Islamic State will be farmore stringent than those target-ing it in Iraq, at least at first. U.S.officials say it is an attempt tolimit the threat the U.S. could bedragged more deeply into theSyrian civil war.

Mr. Obama met with his topmilitary advisers in TampaWednesday to get an update onthe campaign against IslamicState. Officials said no decisionswere made at the briefing, and

Mr. Obama didn’t give the greenlight yet for an attack on Syria.

Mr. Obama insisted anew thatU.S. ground forces won’t engagein combat in Iraq or Syria, de-spite suggestions by top militarycommanders that conditionscould one day warrant recom-mendations that U.S. advisersand other military units play alimited front-line role.

Mr. Obama has expanded U.S.military air operations in Iraq,where the military has conducted

174 strikes. The U.S. is preparingfor likely air attacks inside ofSyria to target Islamic State mili-tants.

The administration has beenassembling an international coali-tion of countries to take part instrikes, help train Iraqi troopsand Syrian rebels, fund the cam-paign and provide other forms of

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BY JULIAN E. BARNESAND CAROL E. LEE

ObamaTightensGrip onStrikesIn Syria, President Plans to Exert Personal Control Over Air Attacks on Islamic State

BY ADAM ENTOUS

DOUBLE AGENT

ARebel Mole Inside Assad’s Embassy

A swath of early investors inAlibaba Group Holding Ltd. willbe able to sell more than $8 bil-lion worth of shares on the daythe Chinese e-commerce com-pany goes public, an unusual ar-rangement that is influencinghow bankers price the offering.

Insiders and other investors incompanies staging initial publicofferings are generally required tohold on to shares for severalmonths, in “lockup” arrangementsbanks design to help protect thestock’s price in its early days.

But with Alibaba, a number ofshares equal to about a third ofwhat could be sold in the dealaren’t covered by such restric-tions, according to the com-pany’s public filings. In contrast,no pre-IPO shares of FacebookInc. were allowed to be traded

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BY MATT JARZEMSKYAND TELIS DEMOS

You Say Aye, I Say Nae: Scots Decide Whether to Stay or Go

MarkRu

nnacles/Getty

Images

(left);A

ndyBu

chanan/A

genceFrance-Presse/Getty

Images

The New Hampshire Republi-can Party had a simple point tomake last month: Sen. JeanneShaheen, the Democrat runningfor re-election,had been “toochicken’’ to holdtown-hall meet-ings where vot-ers could ques-tion her.

So the partydid the naturalthing: It dis-patched a man ina chicken suit.

When policearrested the birdman for disor-derly conduct at a Shaheenevent—he allegedly waved hiswings too close to the senator—the flap only amplified the GOP’smessage as local news mediabroadcast the tale of the senator

and the chicken.An unusually large number of

campaigns this year have turnedto chicken-suited men—andthey’re mostly men—to distractopponents, steal press attention

and, occasion-ally, make apoint.

Chicken menhave played arole in Senatecontests in Iowaand Minnesota.They haveclucked at Dem-ocrats runningfor governor inWisconsin andFlorida for de-clining primary

debates and at the Republicanrunning for lieutenant governorin Nevada.

The New Hampshire GOP saidit has sent multiple staffers out in

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BY REID J. EPSTEIN

Why the Chickens Have Come HomeTo Roost This Campaign Season

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Midterm Elections Turn Off Voters,So Politicians Turn to Men in Bird Suits

Michael Zona

The Federal Reserve took twosteps toward winding down thehistoric easy-money policies thathave defined its response to thefinancial crisis, but stoppedshort of the move markets areawaiting most: signaling wheninterest rates will start to rise.

With the economy graduallyimproving, U.S. central-bank offi-cials plan to end the bond-buyingprogram known as quantitativeeasing after October, hoping tofinally stop expanding a six-yearexperiment in monetary policythat has left the Fed holdingmore than $4 trillion of Treasuryand mortgage bonds.

The Fed onWednesday also de-tailed a new technical plan for howit will raise short-term interestrates, something most officialscurrently don’t intend to do untilnext year. The central bank haskept the federal-funds rate nearzero since December 2008 and of-fered assurances along the wayabout rates remaining low, anotherpart of its varied efforts to boostthe post-financial-crisis economy.

These assurances, which re-mained in the Fed’s policy state-ment even though some officialswant to do away with them,showed the Fed’s caution aboutsteering away too soon from poli-cies which it believes are support-

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BY JON HILSENRATH

Fed PlotsCarefulCourseOn Rates

Struggling SonySignals More Woe

Source: S&P Capital IQ

*Fiscal year ends in March 2015Note: 10 billion yen = $93 million

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HELLO, GOODBYE: Campaigners for and against Scottish independence demonstrated Wednesday in Glasgow on the eve of Thursday’sreferendum on whether to secede from the U.K. Officials said they expected more than 90% of registered voters to cast a ballot. A14

STATIC: Sony warned of a deeperloss and said it plans to cut 1,000jobs in its mobile unit. B1

Bull market in U.S. stocks getsnew lease on life........................... C1

Heard on the Street: Walkingthe line on expectations........ C10

The House approves a measureto train, arm Syrian rebels..... A4

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