Turkey is the fall guy.
The Turkish Parliament provided Prime Minister Recep Erdogan with a broad authorization "to make the necessary arrangements for sending the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries" Hurriyet, October 4, 2012. The vote was on party lines with the dominant AKP party forming a majority. Muharrem Ä degreesnce of the CHP opposition party said: "This motion has no limits. You can wage a world war with [it]."
The warning about the road to war may be near reality. McClatchy Newspapers just reported the following:
ISTANBUL
-- One day after winning blanket authority to send forces into Syria,
Turkey's prime minister warned Friday that his country is "not far from
war" and said that it would be a "deadly mistake" for the Syrian
government to test Turkey's will. McClatchy Newspapers, October 6, 2012
There is little doubt about which foreign country the president plans to invade. The resolution begins with these words: "The negative impact of the ongoing crisis in Syria on our national security, as well as on regional stability and security, is increasingly being seen." Never mind that the negative impact was brought on by Turkey's role as a supplier and conduit for foreign fighters now ravaging the two major cities of Syria.
The parliament also ignored the fact that the Turkish people they allegedly represent are overwhelmingly opposed to any action in Syria. Only 18 percent of the Turks polled support current policy in Syria according to a recent poll. It is fair to assume that fewer still would favor an outright invasion.
Why are war powers necessary?
A Syrian artillery shell landed in the Turkish border city of Akakale. The Turkish government claimed it killed five soldiers. The Syrians promptly apologized. That was a generous move given the fact that Turkey has been funding, training, and transiting foreign fighters into Syria for months in alliance with NATO and the Gulf oil oligarchs.
If any nation had real cause for serious anger, it would be Syria. Under Erdogan's rule, Turkey is an imminent threat to Syria's survival as a sovereign state. Just north of the Syrian border, the Turkish city of Adana is the launching platform for supplies and personnel that have devastated Syria's two major cities, Damascus and Aleppo.
The Libyan model of false flags, false reports, and subsidized rebels wasn't doing the trick with the next victim of the co-opted Arab Spring. Free Syrian Army (read Libyan rebels) looked too much like a terrorist organization to gain much sympathy. Then we heard the inconvenient truth about the presence of al Qaeda fighters and a contingent from the new Libyan state. As a result, the Syrian Transition Council became so toxic that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refused an invitation to a meeting several weeks ago. From the very start, Russia and China vetoed UN resolutions that would have legitimized full scale NATO assistance to the rebels and their partners, the foreign fighters.
Despite all of this, the minute an excuse emerged to rattle swords and plan an invasion, NATO was right there with full support for Turkish belligerence. The British and French, along with the U.S. state department chimed in demanding a "firm" response to Syria.
What to do? How about a patsy war?
The Libyan formula for regime change is failing. Assad may survive. So horrifying to the Western powers and Gulf monarchs, that possibility spurred President Barack Obama to urge action by Erdogan a month or so ago. Obama's pose for a White House photograph of his call to Erdogan says it all. Time to step up to the plate Recep is the clear message.
Why are the NATO powers supporting regime change? Let's see, oh yeah, they want to bring democracy to Syria. Those who accept that excuse may be interested in this proposition. The real reasons are somewhat more complex. Saudi Arabia is obsessed with the impact of Shia unrest in its oil providences bordering Shia Iraq. Qatar, full partner in the Libya aggression, wants Assad out to clear the way for a major pipeline deal. The NATO countries are major oil addicts. Hence, they want to keep their dealer happy. In addition, the NATO nations win big over energy hungry China and oil and gas rich Russia in the new great game to corner dwindling energy supplies.
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