Turkish military attacks on US-aligned Syrian Kurdish groups and the possibility of Turkish and Saudi ground troops entering Syria could upend the fragile peace accord worked out by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) last week. The introduction of Turkish and Saudi ground forces would further risk a major escalation in the war and a whole new round of misery for the Syrian people. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Feb. 13 that Saudi Arabia was sending fighter jets to Incirlik Air Base and that both countries would consider potential ground operations in Syria. “This is something that could be desired but there is no plan. Saudi Arabia is sending planes and they said, 'If the necessary time comes for a ground operation, then we could send soldiers,'" Cavusoglu said. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, perhaps in response to a US request, clarified Feb. 14, "The kingdom's readiness to provide special forces to any ground operations in Syria is linked to a decision to have a ground component to this coalition against Daesh [Islamic State] in Syria — this US-led coalition — so the timing is not up to us."

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has expressed frustration at the disappointing contributions of some of the US regional allies, including Turkey, to the US-led anti-IS coalition. Carter reportedly secured a commitment from Saudi Arabia on Feb. 11 to step up its contributions to the air campaign against IS, in addition to discussions of possible training and ground forces.

This column would support more substantial contributions of Saudi Arabia and Turkey to the air campaign against IS, but Turkish and Saudi intentions in Syria are not so neatly aligned with those of the United States in defeating the terrorist group, which US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper characterized in a Feb. 9 testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as “the pre-eminent terrorist threat because of its self-described caliphate in Syria and Iraq, its branches and emerging branches in other countries, and its increasing ability to direct and inspire attacks against a wide range of targets around the world,”