The situation on the Syria/Turkey border is spiraling out of control, as for five days Turkey has shelled Syria in retaliation for apparent Syrian army shells landing in Turkey. The threat of a wider regional war has never been greater and with Israel chomping at the bit to attack Iran, a limited regional war threatens to become something significantly greater.

The press as usual is spinning propaganda about this dangerous escalation: the madman Assad is so nuts that now he is even attacking Turkey.

Question: Why would the Syrian government, facing an increasingly well-funded and well-trained insurgency where victory is by no means assured, open up a new front against its gigantic NATO-member neighbor to the north?

Question: Why are these “Syrian army” shells landing on Turkish soil coming from parts of Syria that are occupied by the rebels or where the rebels have a heavy presence?

Question: Why is Turkish army shelling having the effect of driving the Syrian army out of border areas and opening the way for the rebels to seize more and more border towns and crossings?

As the Moon of Alabama blog points out, each time an unverified Syrian shell supposedly lands on Turkish soil, Turkish “retaliation” has the effect of delivering that town to the rebels.

This Reuters report points out the pattern yet again:

“Three mortar bombs fired from Syria landed near Guvecci village on Saturday, prompting a fourth day of retaliatory fire from Turkish forces. The Syrian mortar rounds hit empty land and there were no casualties.”

And after the Turkish “retaliation”:

“Syrian rebels…seized a government army outpost near the Turkish border province of Hatay and a rebel flag flew over the building on Sunday, while clashes could be heard in the area of a nearby Syrian village.”

That sounds pretty convenient. A false flag “attack” on Turkey by the rebels certainly fits the pattern thus far.

RT’s Paula Slier’s reports that many are seeing the possibility of a dual provocation: a false flag against a willing accomplice to draw in NATO to finally attack Syria:

“Many critics believe these shells are being fired deliberately. This border area is controlled by rebels and it is possible that they’re firing these rounds to provoke turkey to go to NATO and call for foreign intervention,” Slier said.

This “shelling” then retaliation, then rebel seizure of border areas is having the effect of creating a de facto buffer zone inside of Syria from which the rebels and their US/Saudi/Qatari/Israeli partners can expand the fight further inside Syria. What an amazing coincidence that this “Syrian army” shelling is producing so many rewards and advantages for the rebels and their partners!

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