"Six MiG-31 fighter jets from Russia have landed in Damascus, in partial fulfillment of a protocol signed between Moscow and the Syrian regime in 2007. Developed by the Soviet Air Force, the Mikoyan MiG-31 is a supersonic jet, and one of the fastest fighter planes in the world. The jets have a target range of approximately 200 kilometers." ("Russia sends six fighter jets to Syrian administration," BGN News)
And this is just the first shot fired over Washington's bow. They'll be more to come as the conflict intensifies. But the message is clear, Russia and Iran are not going to allow a repeat of Libya in Syria. They're committed to preventing the violent overthrow of Assad and the descent of Syria into anarchy. Case in point: Check out this blurb from the Miami Herald:
"According to Hamid-Rezi Taraghi, the international affairs spokesman for the Islamic Coalition party and a former member of parliament, Iran is prepared to send Iranian forces into Syria. 'If necessary, we will' send up to 100,000 Basij or revolutionary guard fighters. 'They're always ready,' said Taraghi." ("Iran's perspective on Syria: U.S. allies to blame for rise of Islamic State," Miami Herald)
The point is, Iran sees the war on Assad as a war on Tehran, so it's not going to back down. They'll send troops and supplies to Syria thinking that "it's better to fight the US and its allies there, rather than here." So, while US officials are crowing about the "gamechanger" Incirlik deal, what they've really done is they've thrown more gas on a fire that was already raging increasing the chances of a regional war that could eventually pit Moscow against Washington. Now check out this quote from an op-ed in Turkish daily Hurriyet:
"For Syria, there is no hope of maintaining its unitary status. As the diplomatic bargaining over dividing what is left of Syria among the parties continues at full speed, Turkey is understandably seeking to carve out a buffer zone to protect its interests." ("Conquering Aleppo," Selin Nasi, Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey)
Bingo. This is exactly what Erdogan has in mind, and ostensibly, the US has agreed to help him achieve his territorial aims in exchange for the use of Incirlik. Some will disagree with this analysis, but it's absurd to think that Washington doesn't know what Erdogan is up to. He's carving off a nice big chunk of north Syria to add to Turkey's landmass while Obama and Co. look the other way. That's what's really going on. Here's more clarification from the same article:
"Claims that Turkish military forces on Aug. 10 entered the planned zone in Syria via the ncupÄ ±nar/Bab al-Salameh border crossing along with the Sultan Murat Brigade, which is composed of Turkmens, presents a worrying picture, especially when taken in conjunction with pro-government media headlines that cheerfully proclaimed Aleppo as the 82nd province of Turkey. The Turkmen card, which Turkey saves for rainy days as a foreign policy option, is on the table once again -- something that is not surprising when nationalist sentiments are also on the rise. The perils of this political gamble loom large: Any attack against our Turkmen brothers in the safe zone could easily spark a military clash and drag Turkey into war...
"In the end, do we really want to fight for an 82nd province?"
So Turkey's right-wing pundits are saying that Aleppo (which is in N Syria) is "Turkey's 82nd province"?
Yep, they sure are, which means the path has been cleared for a major invasion followed by a land-grab in northern Syria (including Aleppo) using the justification of establishing a "safety zone." The assumption is that the US will provide air cover for this blatant act of aggression, and that the UN will sweep the whole matter under the rug since Erdogan already got the green light from both Washington and NATO.
Meanwhile, Washington plans to pound the holy crap out of any Syrian government forces that come with a 50-mile radius of their glorious army of Takferi "moderates," you know, the same moderates that cut off heads and rape teenage girls. These are America's allies in its war against Assad, er, ISIS.
Of course, if the US was serious about fighting terrorism, they'd assist Assad in his battle against jihadi groups operating in Syria, and then move on to the vipers lairs in Ankara and Riyadh, the cesspits from whence all terror emerges. Check out this clip from Hurriyet on the problems Germany has had dealing with double-dealing Erdogan:
"The second and perhaps more troubling concern emerged within the German security establishment when Turkey's neck-deep involvement in supporting radical groups fighting to topple Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria reached out to expatriates in Germany. Erdogan's secret support for radical groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Jabhat al-Nusra and the Ahrar al-Sham was closely monitored by German intelligence. Several test cases where Turkey failed to turn over high-profile ISIL suspects detained by Turkish police and wanted in Germany but instead let them join ISIL's ranks in Syria convinced Chancellor Angela Merkel's government that Erdogan is simply playing a duplicitous game regarding the security of its allies...
"The threat of the possible radicalization of Turkish Muslims in Germany as a result of controversial policies pursued by Islamists in the AKP government (Erdogan's party), which was accused of facilitating the flow of foreign fighters arriving in Syria from all over the world, is something about which the German government is very concerned." ("Islamists risk rupture in Turkey's ties with Germany," Hurriyet)
How do you like them apples? So Obama wants to topple Assad who has NO history of supporting terrorist organizations, and join forces with Erdogan who, according to German intelligence, is not only "neck-deep...in supporting radical groups," but has also taken a lot of these bad apples that Germany wants to prosecute, and sent them off to fight in Syria.
And this is the guy that Obama just hopped into bed with?
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