Will The Saudis And Turks Really Invade Syria?
Saudi Arabia sent tongues wagging with its latest threat to dispatch ground troops to fight against Daesh alongside the US. This comes on the heels of the Russian military declaring that Turkey appears ready to invade Syria.
The reaction that some commentators have had to both of these news developments has been to either totally ridicule them as impossible or to conjure up fearful images of a large World War II-style invasion force just waiting to stream into the country.
Both extremes inaccurately portray the reality of the situation and demonstrate an unawareness of the post-conflict strategic vision that Saudi Arabia and Turkey want to advance.
There’s a strong degree of psychological warfare at play here, both in convincing these states’ allies and attempting to deter their adversaries, but it mustn’t be forgotten that there are practical ways in which they may try to reach their objectives short of the full-scale invasion that some are fretting about.