The US and Turkey seem to have had enough of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and have begun their first “operational planning” meeting aimed at bringing about its demise. They are plotting for all eventualities, even a chemical attack in Damascus which Washington has called a “red line”.

The meeting is expected to coordinate military, intelligence and political responses to the crisis in Syria where a deadly crackdown on peaceful protests that began in March 2011 has, according to activists, claimed more than 23 000 lives. That is an absolute staggering number, if correct, and shows how important it is for something to be done about al-Assad’s reign.

The Telegraph reports that:

Turkish foreign ministry deputy under-secretary Halit Cevik and US ambassador Elisabeth Jones are leading the delegations made up of intelligence agents, military officials and diplomats at the meeting in Ankara, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.

This seems to be the outcome of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkey’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s announcement earlier this month that there was a need for such a mechanism to hasten the end of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

David Cameron and President Barack Obama have also warned Syria that any movement or usage of its chemical weapons would change their perspective on how to respond to the conflict. Reading between the lines here, it’s quite clear that they are saying “if you even think of using chemical weapons, we will kick your ass.”

A chemical attack would trigger a refugee influx to neighbouring countries including Turkey which has already received more than 70 000 Syrians.

On Monday, Mr Davutoglu said Turkey can handle no more than 100 000 Syrian refugees and has proposed setting up a UN buffer zone inside Syria to shelter them.

The exodus of refugees to Turkey has intensified recently as a result of a Syrian army offensive and fighting in the northern city of Aleppo between regime forces and rebels.

The growing flow of refugees has raised fears of a repeat of the 1991 Gulf War, when half a million Iraqi Kurds massed along the common border.

[Source: The Telegraph]