It took Turkish security forces just a few hours to conclude that the trail left by the perpetrators of the double bombing in Reyhanli leads directly back to Damascus. The small Turkish township was not quick to recover from the tragedy that befell it Saturday (May 11). Two car bombs were detonated in the town center, causing the deaths of 51 people. The attack itself wasn’t really that surprising. What was surprising is that it took so long for it to happen. This was an act of Syrian retaliation against two long years of Turkish involvement in a military coalition intent on destroying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

There are no “good guys” or “bad guys” in this story. Both sides are ruthless. The question is whether decision-makers in the West are fully aware of how interests are mapped out in the Syrian crisis and what the balance of power really is. When White House officials call on Assad to go home or decide to provide the rebels with weapons — and by that I mean any weapons whatsoever, even non-lethal weapons — the question that immediately comes to mind is: Why is the West applying pressure to destabilize Syria? Why does the West regard Assad not only as the problem, but also as the key to its resolution, while ignoring the critical roles of other major players in the equation? What is it actually promising the suffering citizens of Syria once Assad is gone? This is not some subjective question either. For the Syrian people this is a matter of life and death. There is a fierce struggle underway over the future of this war-torn country.

The Syrian crisis cannot be categorized as “just some rebellion.” The very term “rebellion” implies that there are “good guys” and “bad guys.” “Regional war” would actually be the more appropriate label to describe what is happening there. More accurately, it is a war launched by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey against Damascus. The first two countries arm and fund the rebels, while Turkey provides them with training and command bases on its territory and serves as a staging area for rebel fighters on the way to sorties in Syria. The lion’s share of the militias operating against Assad consists of a mercenary army, paid for by the incalculable wealth of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Most fighters are Muslims of various nationalities, who were not only inveigled to take up arms against a heretical regime, but who receive a generous salary for doing so. Al-Qaeda and the other factions identified with it are not simply sanctioned by God to take part in the fighting. They are proxy regiments, well-armed and well-organized by affluent Arab political magnates and intelligence services.

The Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya TV networks provide extensive media coverage to the rebels’ efforts on the ground. They depict the Damascus regime as the prime villain in this saga and persistently highlight the militants’ achievements. Of course, these two networks take their orders from the palaces of the Qatari emir or the Saudi royal family, either directly or indirectly. They are both leading networks on a global scale, with immense popularity worldwide. As a result of this, they determine what lexicon will be used by many tens of millions of viewers to describe the fighting, and they do so day after day.