Syria is quite the mess. By all accounts Russia is blocking the Turkish airforce in Afrin, presumably as retaliation for the shooting down of the Russian jet in Idlib. Though as far as I can see Russia is very pragmatic with its grudges, so presumably they don't want to see the Kurds easily crushed. Or at least without exctracting a suitable price. They can play the one air strike for a few dead Chechens in Turkey game for a long time without getting bored. Which doesn't mean that there is any happy end in sight for the YPG. Or for the rest of Syria. The US security state seems to be having too much fun to let the government win easily. And I presume the spooks are pretty OK with not having to deal with the surviving jihadists just yet.
One thing that I don't have any handle on at all is the Saudi - Turkey rivallry. In the Qatar kerfluffle we had Saudi and the Emirates on one side and Turkey and Iran on the other. Before the Afrin invasion I heard some noise fom the SDF side that they thought they had a thing going with the Saudis.

Two IAF pilots hurt after F-16 downed during retaliatory strike in Syria | Ynet News |

Apache helicopter downs Iranian drone that entered Israel, triggering alarms in Beit She'an region; IDF attacks Iranian targets in Syria in retaliation; Syria fires antiaircraft missiles at Israeli F-16s, leading pilots to bail out; IDF: 'Incident is ongoing. Iran dragging the entire region to an adventure and will pay the price.'

The pilots were able to bail out of the plane. One pilot was seriously wounded, while the other was only lightly hurt. They were taken to the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for treatment.

The IDF's strike was in response to an earlier infiltration into Israel of an Iranian drone originating from an airfield near Palmyra, Syria, which was successfully intercepted by an IDF Apache helicopter.

...
Pilots of one of the fighter jets recognized antiaircraft missiles locking onto their plane, prompting them to eject.

The fighter jet crashed in an open area near Kibbutz Harduf. The police said the crash caused no casualties or damage in the community.

IDF has targeted the Iranian control systems in Syria that sent the #UAV into Israeli airspace. Massive Syrian Anti-Air fire, one F16 crashed in Israel, pilots safe. #Iran is responsible for this severe violation of Israeli sovereignty. Event ongoing, more to follow.

— Jonathan Conricus (@LTCJonathan) February 10, 2018

 

○ Israel launches 'large-scale attack' in Syria after fighter jet crashes | The Guardian |

'Sapere aude'

Introduction by Meteor Blades, a diary posted @BooMan on Aug 17th, 2005:  
○ Operation AJAX Turns 52. Fallout in Iran Still Sizzling

In addition, the role of CIA, Sciri and Mossad leading to the Iraq War of 2003 ...
○ Accused Mossad agent Manucher Ghorbanifar and role in pretext for Iraq War by Gondi @BooMan / @EuroTrib on Nov. 2, 2005  

My earlier diary on overthrow of Mossadeq and CENTO in containment policy of the West versus Soviet Union communism ...

○ Shah and Secret Ties With Jewish State (Mossad)
○ CIA Confirms Role in 1953 Iran Coup

The new forged alliance of the United States with Israel - Saudi Arabia - Gulf States after the failures of the Iraq War, is the last chance to start a war with Iran. All signs indicate a path of fear and warmongering ... Russiaphobia plays an important part to maintain US hegemony in the Middle East.

Israel Pimps for New Middle East War | Tikun Olam |

Then the plot thickens considerably when the Syrian air-defense, operating Russian-built missile systems, sprang into action and launched a barrage at the attacking F-16s.  For the first time in several years, during which Israel routinely attacked Syrian targets with impunity, the Syrians hit their target and downed a war plane, which crashed inside Israel, severely wounding one pilot and lightly wounding the other.

This is outrageous from an Israeli perspective: an Arab state actually fighting back and drawing blood on Israeli pilots and a plane worth tens of millions?  Something not to be countenanced.

○ Syria Downs Israeli War Plane...and This Time, It's True! | Tikun Olam |
○ Just who has been killing Iran's nuclear scientists? | The Independent - Oct. 5, 2013 |

From my diary posted @BooMan today - here.

'Sapere aude'

○ A train crash between Turkey and the US put on hold | Hürriyet Daily News - Opinion |

Just hours after the Mattis-Canikli meeting, Tillerson met Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in an unusual setup, with no translator or note-taker present in the room. It was not clear whether the Turks pushed for such a set up - in which Çavuşoğlu did the translation for Erdoğan - or whether Tillerson decided for it.

The next day presented a peculiarly optimistic picture in Ankara. There we saw Tillerson and Çavuşoğlu almost completing each other's sentences in front of the cameras, while announcing that the countries have "come to terms" to normalize ties.

'Sapere aude'

Posted earlier @BooMan ...

Chessboard Near East. NATO leadership (USAsians) is provoking a war with Putin's Russia. NK action will provoke retaliation from both China and Russia. Trump will attempt to eliminate the self-interest of South Korea which will come under immediate fire from NK. Russia is building new military bases in ally Syria. The result of the West's provocation for regime change through jihadist proxies and funding from KSA, UAE and Qatar. Great support for Syrian opposition from the Atlantic Council. The Obama White House let ISIL expand as a force to fight the Syrian Army. Similar to present support for the Kurds fighting inside NE Syria. Turkey has all but switched allegiance from NATO partnership to Putin's Russia because of self-interest. Europe also has split politically from Erdogan's Turkey. So the new Near East alliance is formed by Iran - Syria - Iraq (partly) - Turkey and Russia. Any attack on Iran will get a response from the alliance. See my earlier writing about the CENTO states and the Baghdad Pact. These same states were used by the US to contain Communist expansion of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Putin succeeded to maintain Russia's key naval bases of Sevastopol on Black Sea and Tartus on the Mediterranean Sea. Important defensive moves, Russia has no global footprint to threaten US might in an unipolar world.

[Of course my comment was troll rated within the hour - don't criticize Dem "progressives" on the site]

'Sapere aude'