U.S. Defense Secretary in Brussels Organized for World War III

There were indications Sunday of the strong potential for an imminent Turkish/Saudi invasion of Syria, following two days of Turkish artillery shelling positions of both the Syrian Arab Army and Kurdish militias near the Syrian city of Aleppo. Both Saudi aircraft and special forces troops have moved into southern Turkey since Feb. 12, and Turkish government figures have spoken publicly of a “major escalation” in the war in Syria — when Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Kerry have announced an attempt to stop the war with a ceasefire.

Several military commentators in the United States have described this possible, completely illegal invasion of Syria as a “race to get to Racca.” Russian-supported Syrian forces and their allies have recently moved from their advances around Aleppo, toward Racca, the “capital” of the proclaimed “caliphate” of the ISIS terrorists. The Turkish-Saudi move would be an attempt to sabotage the ceasefire, and a desperate try at defying Russian President Putin’s clearly successful strategy for bringing war to an end in Syria and Iraq.

EIR Founding Editor Lyndon LaRouche said on Sunday of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, that “if they are not insane, they will not do this. They are panic-stricken because they know they are losing power, and Putin is prepared for this.”

But in fact, on Feb. 11, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, although in Brussels for a NATO defense ministers’ meeting, held another meeting which was “the centerpiece” of his trip. Defense News called it “the first summit of its kind” with 28 other countries and 21 observer countries of the so-called U.S.-led coalition against ISIS.

Defense News’s Aaron Mehta reports blunty, “[q]uestions remain about how successful the campaign can be if Russia remains active in Syria.”

Carter and the U.S. Commander in charge of the anti-ISIS coalition’s fight, Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, presented a strategy for the rapid re-taking of Raqqa and Mosul, ISIS’ stronghold in Iraq. Carter repeatedly pushed Sunni Arab nations to get more involved. NPR quoted Carter in an interview pushing the Turks: “I think the Turks can do more to fight ISIL. They’re helping us fight ISIL by hosting our aircraft in Turkey. I’m grateful for that, but I think they can do more.” Saudi Arabia reportedly agreed to increase its airstrikes inside Syria, and consider Saudi troops on the ground, “potentially giving Barack Obama the Sunni ground force he publicly called for,” as Defense News proclaimed.

If the Turks and Saudis are now insane enough to “do more” and invade, it will be Obama, then, who sent them in to risk war, potentially world war, with Russia.