As we reported yesterday, in one of the most surprising developments involving the Syrian proxy war, Saudi Arabia and U.S. presence on the ground, the latest twist is that both Turkey and Saudi Arabia are now mulling a full-scale invasion while Russia and the Syrian government continue their progress in wiping out the US and Saudi-funded rebellion. To be sure, there was confusion when CNN Arabia reported first that the Saudis may send as much as 150,000 troops into Saudi Arabia, by way of Turkey, something which Anadolu news promptly denied.
However, the denial itself was softly denied by the Saudi Press Agency, which further stirred the water earlier today when it reported that not only is Saudi Arabia ready to send a special force to fight in Syria, but that this deployment was proposed by the US, which would oversee the Saudi troops as part of the US-led coalition in Syria. To wit:
- AL JUBEIR SAYS U.S. PROPOSED GROUND FORCE DEPLOYMENT: SPA
- SAUDI FORCE WOULD FIGHT AS PART OF U.S.-LED COALITION: SPA
- SAUDI MINISTER SAYS SENDING GROUND FORCE UNDER DISCUSSION: SPA
- SAUDI ARABIA READY TO SEND SPECIAL FORCE TO FIGHT IS IN SYRIA
And so, what was until recently purely an air campaign involving all the major global powers (except China, for for the time being), is about to become a full-blown land war, involving not only Suunis and Shi'ites (especially once Iran joins the fray), but also Russian troops on one side and US and Saudis on the other.
Most notably, oil has refused to budge even an inch on what is rapidly shaping up as a precursor to World War III.