A new stage of the war in Syria is about to start – the beginning of a ground operation of the international coalition, which is to mark the transition of the confrontation of foreign forces involved in the Syrian conflict from cold bombing strikes on various positions (of Daesh or the Damascus army) to hotclashes on the ground. In fact, it will mean the beginning of a regional war. It will be localized in one country, but threatens the safety and stability of a much larger number of states. The ability to start such a ground operation and its consequences were discussed by experts Mikhail Remizov and Stanislav Ivanov in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza.
The President of the National Strategy Institute, Mikhail Remizov, assesses the threat of the beginning of a ground operation as real. "Certainly, there are major fluctuations in the camp of the US coalition. The US is weighing up all the pros and cons, whether they should encourage their allies, or persuade them from taking such a step. As for the coalition, for example, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, they would like such a development of events, it would be a response to the scenario they relied on – the overthrow of Assad with the help of rebels – when the Russian intervention mixed up all their cards, but didn't deprive them of the possibility of continuing to play the game. The ground operation is one such opportunity. In practice, it means Syria may be divided into zones under control of different powers,'' the expert considers.
Remizov drew attention to the fact that all the states that are to direct troops into Syria will use the fight against Daesh as a pretext.
"The real goal will be the creation of a control zone in Syria. In this case, we are speaking about the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syria in the past tense. What states will divide Syria? First of all Turkey, the most combat-ready country. Qatar and Saudi Arabia are rich countries, but they are not very strong in military terms and their actions in Yemen have showed it," he recalled.
A State Advisor of the second class, an expert of the Scientific Council of the Russian Security Council Stanislav Ivanov, was skeptical about the prospects of beginning military ground operations with the participation of foreign countries.
"It is impossible to declare their readiness to send troops and fight, these are two completely different things. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are not going to fight in Syria. They do not have any military operational plan or actual readiness for combat operations. Now we are hearing declaratory statements from them," he said, adding that it would be inappropriate for the international coalition to conduct a ground operation.
