All the ducks are lining up in a row. Opposing forces are positioning themselves. Turkey and the US are making common cause against the President of Syria, Basar El-Assad. Incerlik air base in Turkey near the Syrian border is available to the US. Saudi Arabia and Israel are about to  join the Turkish-American operation in Syria. American drones are bombing Syrian government troops, a very new development. The escalation has started. Kurds, feeling betrayed by the US,will be fighting ferociously on Assads side. There are about 35 million Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Lebanon. Almost 25 million plus are in Eastern Turkey alone. One can say that eastern Turkey is the heart of Kurdistan. Actually, the Kurds are already fighting on the Syrian government side. Erdogan, president of Turkey, does not have a majority. His rule depends on a coalition and Turkey is unstable. The Saudi Arabian regime is also not very stable.There are attacks taking place in Saudi Arabia along the Yemeni border. The war in Yemen against the Houthis is not going too well. Two days ago or so, Saudi tanks rolled into Yemen to support the forces of the former president, Hadi. Israel also supports ISIS and wants to depose Assad and partition Syria as well as Iraq. But above all, it wants the waters of the Litani River in Lebanon. Hesbullah stands in its way and Hesbullah is fighting on Assad’s side. Israel is water poor; it imports nearly half its fresh water needs from Turkey.

The forces supporting Assad are Hesbullah of Lebanon and Hamas of Gaza. Iran is supporting Assad unconditionally. With the sanctions against Iran removed, its power has increased. If Turkey and the US send troops into Syria, Iran will send its volunteers. And of course,there are Russia and China who support Syria. Russia will not back off in Syria. China will also not back off. President Putin of Russia had a very intense meeting with the Turkish ambassador recently. It was reportedly two hours long. It is alleged that he told the Turkish ambassador that if Turkey invades Syria, Russia will make sure that Syria becomes the Turkish Stalingrad. This time, the Kurds will fight ISIS, the Turks, and the US to the death. The Turkish gas pipe-line will not be built. War is starting. Turkey, the US, Israel, the Saudis, and ISIS say Assad must go. Iran,China,Russia say: NO WAY.