CNN’s Arabic division in Dubai reports Saudi Arabia is planning to invade Syria and has mobilized 150,000 troops in the kingdom.
Two sources cited by CNN say “trainees” preparing for the effort are from Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Morocco, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Turkey. Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei will also participate.
The invasion scheduled for March will be led by the Saudis and Turks and will originate in Turkey, according to CNN.
Last week the US Defense boss Ash Carter said he welcomed a Saudi offer to participate in ground operations. “That kind of news is very welcome,” he told reporters while on a visit to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
Carter will meet in Brussels this week with the Saudis. The Saudis confirmed they will also be in Brussels to discuss details of the invasion.
Last week Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmad Asiri told the United States his country is willing to send troops into Syria. On Friday Saudi officials announced the formation of the Sunni coalition and said military exercises will be held in preparation for an invasion.
Iran mocked the Saudi plan. “They claim they will send troops (to Syria), but I don’t think they will dare do so,” Maj. Gen. Ali Jafari told reporters in Tehran, according to Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency. “They have a classic army and history tells us such armies stand no chance in fighting irregular resistance forces.”
Middle East experts believe the move by Saudi Arabia is not about defeating the Islamic State but confronting Iran.
Iranian security and intelligence services are advising and assisting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in his fight against US and Gulf Emirate proxies. In addition to sending the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Quds Force to fight on the ground in Syria, Lebanese Hezbollah has taken on a direct combat role. Iraqi Shi‘a brigades are also involved in the fighting.
“Saudi Arabia’s strategic goals in Syria are very different from ours. And any new introduction of foreign ground troops into Syria would be greatly complicating efforts to focus attention on ISIS as the threat,” Stephen Kinzer, a senior fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs, told US News & World Report. “The Saudis know what their goal is. They want to overthrow Assad. Period.”
“I would consider any introduction of foreign ground troops [into Syria] to be destabilizing. You’re pushing Saudi Arabian power closer and closer to Iran,” Kinzer added. “That kind of ground deployment would certainly undermine the already weak efforts toward peaceful resolution of this conflict.”
Last week UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura postponed Syria peace talks brokered by the internationalist organization. The State Department has blamed Russia “in part” for the failure of the talks.
The proxy forces have refused to participate in talks unless the al-Assad government stops attempting to regain territory overtaken by al-Nusra, IS and other jihadist groups.
HARM on Wed, 10th Feb 2016 12:29 pm
“Focus on capitalism instead of fanaticism and your country is better off.”
Actually, focus on NEITHER and you’ll be better off. Secular capitalism is preferable to religious fanaticism and medieval violence, but has also enabled and greatly accelerated massive population overshoot and the strip-mining of the planet. We’d be far better off in a post-religion and post-capitalism world where talented sociopaths of all stripes are marginalized vs. occupying every leadership position, as now.
Apneaman on Wed, 10th Feb 2016 12:32 pm
Yes short, these article specific commenter handles are pretty childlike and obvious.
“Saudi’s = no stake in Syria”
“OBAMA’s RED LINE -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-”
Considering the intent is to sow doubt in the average American (90% + retards) not much sophistication is required.
Your tax dollars working against you.
Government propaganda, automated bots, and Internet trolls – The battle to control public opinion and manipulate social media
http://www.sott.net/article/294220-Government-propaganda-automated-bots-and-Internet-trolls-The-battle-to-control-public-opinion-and-manipulate-social-media
Apparently it’s a wasted effort except for the profiteers.
The U.S. Is Losing the Social Media War
http://time.com/4064698/social-media-propaganda/
Rex Tyrano on Wed, 10th Feb 2016 1:54 pm
Russia – please do the world a favor and nuke the Wahhabist filth.
shortonoil on Wed, 10th Feb 2016 2:22 pm
“Yes short, these article specific commenter handles are pretty childlike and obvious.”
Good link, and everyone (who is human) should read it for their own protection. The NSS is really a bunch of techies with delusions of godhood. Pretty sick bunch. The sociopathic tendencies that have long infiltrated the higher government positions have now become embedded into entire agencies. It is probably the single biggest threat to individual freedoms, and liberties that there is. Anyway, that is why I stopped using Social Media almost immediately after I began. It is an industry that will eventually die of its own abuses.
Bloomer on Thu, 11th Feb 2016 1:11 am
Syria must fall so the pipeline to Europe through Turkey can be built.
theedrich on Thu, 11th Feb 2016 3:48 am
Sorry, Boat. Japan, South Korea, Germany and Italy are all vassals of the U.S. Their “economic powerhouse” status is due strictly to the fact that the American military umbrella enables them to function at all. None of them dares do anything seriously contrary to American interests. And corporate inversion by American corporations simply extends U.S. control over them, albeit at the expense of workers in the homeland (about which the corporations could not care less). Given this massive dominance over East and West, the concept of patriotism is passé, a slogan to be used only to sell something to the masses on American soil. Zillionaires like Georg Sörös have nothing but contempt for such unicornish ideas.
Whenever the U.S. regime talks about a “coalition of the willing” (or some similar euphemism) backing its military adventures, it is actually referring to countries coerced or bribed into joining the D.C. megalomaniacs and their agitprop. The anti-Iranian sanctions were/are a case in point. Despite the great reluctance of the Europeans to take economic action against the Persians, they had virtually no choice but to submit to the American directorate because of the threat of U.S. economic retaliation in one form or another.
Even though the European media may produce a lot of bluster against individual Yankee politicians out of favor with the fashionable Left (currently, against Trump), as a “coalition of the willy-nilly” all of the Euro-dictatorships, plus S. Korea and Japan, are fundamentally complicit with Washington in all of its crimes.
BestVaughn on Tue, 8th May 2018 6:09 am
I see you don’t monetize your site, don’t
waste your traffic, you can earn additional bucks every month because you’ve got hi quality content.
If you want to know how to make extra money, search for:
Ercannou’s essential adsense alternative
fnaf on Sun, 24th Jul 2022 10:51 pm
Saudi Arabia has been quietly preparing for an invasion of Syria, despite the fact that the U.S. is still firmly committed to fighting ISIS there. The idea of a Saudi invasion is a scary one, but it’s important to keep in mind that it’s a real possibility.
chess online on Tue, 13th Jun 2023 2:17 am
Moreover, these platforms prioritize user privacy by eliminating the need for extensive KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures, providing a more anonymous trading experience.