so, now the rebels in syria are fighting each other.
this is also curious:
"Meanwhile, with fighting between rival factions of the so-called rebels erupting on the border, the Turkish parliament Thursday approved, over stiff opposition, a resolution extending an authorization for the government to send troops into Syria.
...
Last year, the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seized on the downing of a Turkish military plane by Syrian fighters and the killing of Turkish citizens by stray shells from the fighting inside Syria to push through the original resolution. This time around, it used the supposed threat posed by chemical weapons as the main pretext."
note that it seemed obvious at the time that the plane was sent into syrian airspace in order to be shot down.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/10/04/syria-o04.html
sending turkey into an arab country as an occupying force is....problematic....for the region.
that being said, i'd rather have the turks as the hegemon in the area than the other options - saudis, israelis, iranians....egyptians....
despite the recent shift away from secularism, turkey remains the most moderate state in the region. it's just that there's this sort of nasty history thing about five hundred years of turkish colonialism over arabic speakers...
the other major option the americans have been working with has been the saudis. gotta wonder if the infighting in the rebel army has something to do with a turkish/saudi split. well, i say wonder. it's pretty clear. that's dangerous.
on the one hand, british/american strategy in the area has long been to divide and conquer, which means maintaining a system of ever shifting, highly dynamic alliances. they want to, and can be, everybody's primary ally, while subtly manipulating everybody against each other. everybody is aware of this and how to play the game of lobbying for influence while not giving the impression of being too powerful. on the other hand, the americans need to be very careful about not upsetting the saudi aristocrats too deeply. see, they're prone to violent outbursts.
a little more subtle than turkey fighting with the saudis. it's more like the qataris fighting with the saudis/turks.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/10/01/the_army_of_islam_is_winning_in_syria?page=full