Turkey's Tensions

(I didn’t mention it earlier, but if you haven’t figured it out yet, this isn’t Dennis. This is Lisa, a guest blogger. I have a blog at a different site but I love to write for Dennis when he’s away.)

Panetta: US sends forces to Jordan

It would appear that we are getting involved in the rising tensions in the Middle East. We have now sent troops to the Syria/Jordan border. The goal is to support Jordan with the influx of refugees from Syria, and also to help the Jordanian military ramp up its efforts if Syria continues to attack its neighbors.

"But the revelation of U.S. military personnel so close to the 19-month-old Syrian conflict suggests an escalation in the U.S. military involvement in the conflict, even as Washington pushes back on any suggestion of a direct intervention in Syria."

"We have a group of our forces there working to help build a headquarters there and to insure that we make the relationship between the United States and Jordan a strong one so that we can deal with all the possible consequences of what's happening in Syria," Panetta said.

It stands to reason that we could become involved in an enormous conflict that will overtake that region. Without a clearly defined role in the situation, we also could end up in a position that we don’t necessarily want to be in.



In the meantime, tensions between Syria and Turkey are escalating rapidly.

Turkey, Seeking Weapons, Forces Syrian Jet to Land

Turkish fighter jets intercepted a plane coming from Moscow, heading to Damascus. They had a suspicion that the plane contained weapons to be used in the fighting. There were reports that pieces of a missile were removed, but Turkey is remaining mum on what they found.

This article is full of statements that if they are realized, could be the beginning of the war that we are watching for signs of. Here are a few of the most notable ones to me:

"The fighting in Syria has touched all other neighbors of the country as well, with fighting reported recently in villages near a border crossing to Lebanon in the west, while in the east, Syrian authorities have lost control of some crossing points on the border with Iraq. Tens of thousands of Syrians have sought refuge in Lebanon and Jordan, straining resources in those countries. Last month several mortar shells fired from Syria landed in the Golan Heights near Israel’s northern border. " - Seems an easy way to get Israel tangled up in this mess.


And this sounds ominous…

"The rising tensions between Turkey and Syria are seen as especially troublesome because Turkey is a member of NATO, which considers an attack on one member an attack on all, and this implicitly raises the possibility that NATO will be drawn into a volatile Middle East conflict."


Finally, to what I alluded to earlier tonight:

Don’t drag NATO into Syria, Baghdad warns Ankara

As I mentioned earlier tonight, Russia and Iraq have been getting closer and closer. They are venturing in joint ventures in hydrocarbon, trade, investments and construction. Mr. Putin also said Russia and Iraq “share close or identical views on many very acute international issues”.

But while they were meeting, they discussed the tensions in the region. The Iraqi Prime Minister, who is close to Iran as well, said, “Turkey is being presumptuous, you could say, as if it were taking responsibility for solving the Syrian conflict instead of the Syrian people and wants to impose its own solution. For this reason the international community needs to stop Turkey from intervening,” he said.

“The veiled support for the Syrian government came soon after Baghdad revived its military ties with Moscow. Mr. Maliki, a close ally of Iran, asserted that Syria was not threatening Turkey, which should not seek NATO’s intervention.”

To recap; the current players in the news today are Russia, Turkey, Damascus, Iraq and Iran. Libya could throw their hat in the ring, considering they’re still in the news every day since the anniversary of 9.11 this year. It wouldn’t be difficult to see the powers in the region gang up on Israel. If Israel is getting more jumpy about Iran and decides to do something about it, the rest of these players would join against Israel in a hurry.

However this plays out, God’s plan continues to go as scheduled and He will receive all the glory.