T. Belman. Just today Mudar Zahran sent me this memo:
“Saudi Arabia is moving inside Syria to attack ISIS.
Saudi Arabia is mobilizing all friends who matter for this: Turkey (a great job bringing Turkey back from Qatar/MB camp)+US+UK+Israeli Knowledge and intelligence through the US but not directly+Canada’s intelligence.
Saudi fears that Russia could obstruct operations because it is afraid pro-Saudi Syrian rebels could take over areas liberated from ISIS.
Saudi’s royals are meeting with Putin, already have and will do more, they are trying to convince him to either help or at least not obstruct.
Russia could do a major chance on the face of history if it chooses to help Saudis by at least fighting ISIS from its side while Saudi and coalition attack ISIS from their side, and for that perhaps Putin could secure Assad’s territories and even end the revolution/civil war all together for Assad’s favor.”
By Lizzie Dearden | The Independent | Feb 13, 2016,
Saudi Arabia is sending troops and fighter jets to Turkey’s Incirlik military base ahead of a possible ground invasion of Syria. The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, confirmed the deployment in a statement to the Yeni Safak newspaper on Saturday, days before a temporary ceasefire is due to come into force.
“Saudi Arabia declared its determination against Daesh — the Arabic term for Islamic State (ISIS) — by saying that they were ready to send both jets and troops,” he said. “At every coalition meeting we have always emphasised the need for an extensive result-oriented strategy in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group,” he added.
READ ALSO:Syria says any foreign troops entering the country would return ‘in coffins’
“If we have such a strategy, then Turkey and Saudi Arabia may launch an operation from the land,” he said.
He confirmed that planes and military personnel were being sent to Incirlik, in Adana near the Syrian border, but said numbers had not been confirmed. Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, said Russia’s intervention would not help Assad stay in power in an interview published on Saturday. “There will be no Bashar al-Assad in the future,” he told a German newspaper.
Cooperation with Turkey could prove problematic if Saudi Arabia follows its definition of “terrorists” to include Kurdish fighters, who have been one of the most effective forces against ISIS on the ground.
READ ALSO:Iran mocks Saudi Arabia’s offer to send ground troops to Syria
Cavusoglu’s statement also raised the possibility of conflict between Turkey and Russia, which he accused of hitting the so-called Islamic State with only 12 per cent of its air strikes. “Russia’s target is supporting Assad, we all know that,” he added. “But the question is this: Who will stop Russia doing that?”
Ash Carter, the American defence secretary, said on Friday that he expected the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates to send commandos to help recapture Islamic State’s Syrian stronghold and de facto capital of Raqqa.
Saudi Arabia and Turkey are among Assad’s foreign opponents who have been supplying selected rebel groups with weapons via a Turkey-based operations centre. Some of the vetted groups, mainly part of the Free Syrian Army, have received military training overseen by the US Central Intelligence Agency.
READ ALSO:How Saudis sending ground forces into Syria will affect the civil war
In the wake of Saudi Arabia’s proposal to send in ground troops on Thursday, the Russian prime minister claimed the move could spark a new world war.
“A ground operation draws everyone taking part in it into a war,” he told the newspaper Handelsblatt. “The Americans and our Arab partners must consider whether or not they want a permanent war.”
Russia started its intervention in September at the request of Assad, Vladimir Putin’s long-term ally, to support the Syrian regime. The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed it is bombing “terrorists” but has been condemned by the UN and the international community for evidence it is predominantly targeting civilian areas held by anti-government rebels.
Ted Belman Said:
not happening, a smoke and mirrors sham…. saudi has to go in because the russians are killing off their other proxies. Many “battles” between groups were actually one group leaving and allowing the other to come in. As IS cannot participate in the agreements and as the russians are attacking the sunni proxies , when they send in troops “against IS” they will actually be no fighting against IS but a takeover by saudi before the russians and assad get there. Saudi is the main rep for the sunnis in the negotiations.
this is a red herring canard, just a continuation of the appearance that IS was not one of the many sunni jihadi creatures created by saudi, turkey and the GCC.
Saudi is going in because the agreements are about to take effect and it seeks to make sure that as the foreign recruited fighters of IS morp out to another theater, as they are already to Libya, they are concerned that russia is decimating the local sunni jihadis before they can take over the areas captured by IS. IS was always a false flag created by the GCC when Obama reneged on entering the under the chem weapons false flag. It was created with plausible deniability, within a few months after Obama reneged. It consists of ex sadam officers running primarily foreign sunni mercenaries. You may not remeber that I predicted that when the conflict was coming to an end and an agreement taking effect that the foreign jihadis would fade away. IS is what enables all western govs and the arabs a fig leaf to enter syria and iraq under the pretext of fighting IS. When arab coalition many months ago flew their first sorties “against” IS they returned reporting that they found no targets and after that we never heard reports of their missions agains IS again. Its a matter of DUH?????? IS accomplished what the prior sunni orgs could not on behalf of the sunni bloc. There has never been a war on IS by the sunni nations, its a sham.
whats going on now is similar to what happens when a cease fire is called… the protagonists try to firm up their gains. IS has been leaving areas and handing over to the less extreme sunni groups… but they are all sunni funded and directed. Forget the rhetoric that they issue for public consumption and see what is really happening. thats why russia attacked the so called regular sunni syrian rebels because they know that they are the ones meant to take the reins from IS.
Russia has strengthened its negotiating position. It is imperative that Saudi Arabia and Turkey do the same by sending troops to fight ISIS. Then they can cut a deal with Russia to accept Alawite Syria in exchange for Alawite Syria accepting a new sunni state. Russia will no doubt insist on an independent Kurdish state. This will be a bitter pill for Turkey but I don’t see any other solution to the conflict.
What is certain from the point of view of Saudi arabia and Israel is that they don’t want all of Syria to be controlled by Russia and Iran. They must bolster there ability to prevent this. Thus the troops.
@ lsatenstein:
Haven’t you heard? All the bad guys have planes and missiles too.
@ Dandaman:
I don’t see a silver lining, but look at the map of Syria.
Turkey has a very long border with Syria.
Iraq has a very long border with Syria.
Iran has no land connection with Syria. Why is Iran in the picture?
Russia would have been better off making a deal with Turkey than with Iran.
Perhaps the move by Turkey and SA will convince Dictator Putin to reconsider Russia’s alliances.
Comparing Saudi Arabia and Iran’s proximity to Syria is quite obvious. SA is almost next door. If Jordan was to become part of Saudi Arabia, then SA would also border Syria.
@ ppksky:
POD = Pillars of Defense: the almost war which started with Israel target assasinating a number of iranian elements in gaza, massed army on border and then Qatar “brokered” a truce with hamas.
GOI= Gov of Israel
bernard ross Said:
“POD” war? “GOI” positions? What are you talking about? Would it really be too much trouble to type out obscure acronyms?
I said this has been going on for years, before the POD war, some folks here said I was a conspiracy nut but to me it is transparently obvious many times being the only rational explanation for absurd GOI positions.
Soudies are trying to hedge bets on the after-Assad Syrian political landscape, by even placing a Saudi royal on the Syrian throne…to spite the Hashemites perhaps
Yes, not very democratic, but this is ME, not EU or USA. People think VERY diffeently there.
Erdogan would be happier with the Islamist Saudis than a US-backed Syrian ‘democrats’ since a democracy would not prevent the creation of an independent Kurdish state. Saudis would have no qualms in slaughtering any number of Kurds.
I think this is a message to Russia vs hezbullah and the golan border.
Syria is not the only place taken over by terrorists. Why would the Turks and the Saudis claim concern over Syria and then ignore the same problem in Libya and Iraq? It is hard to find any credibility in the declarations by Turky and Saudi Arabia about terrorism.
Nothing good can come from this situation. Anyone who sees a silver lining is delusional.