World War III Approaches: An Invasion of Syria Is Imminent

As you read this article, Turkish forces are massing along the border with Syria, and the largest "military exercises" in the history of the Middle East are being held in northern Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are publicly warning that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "will be removed by force" if a political solution cannot be found, and Turkey is claiming that it may have to establish a "safe zone" in northern Syria "for humanitarian purposes.
" Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their Sunni allies have poured massive amounts of money and arms into the conflict in Syria, and now that their Sunni insurgents are on the verge of total defeat, they are trying to come up with a way to justify going in there and doing the job themselves.
The following comes from the London Independent:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be removed by force if the peace process fails, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister has said.
"Bashar al-Assad will leave – have no doubt about it," Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN. "He will either leave by a political process or he will be removed by force."
Saudi Arabia has sent troops and fighter jets to a Turkish military base ahead of a possible ground invasion of Syria.

So precisely who will be doing the "removing" if force is necessary?
Are the Saudis ready to send in ground troops?
Apparently they are. Just consider what Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told CNN.

Saudi Foreign Minister Jubeir made clear that his country's troops would not go it alone.
"I can tell you that there is some serious discussion going on with regards to looking at a ground component in Syria, because there has to be a possibility of taking and holding ground, that one cannot do from the air."
"We are saying we will participate within the U.S.-led coalition, should this coalition decide to send ground troops into Syria, that we are prepared to send special forces with those troops."

But if the Saudis try to take Damascus and remove Assad by force, the Syrians and their allies will certainly fight back. That means that the Saudis will be fighting Hezbollah, the Iranians and the Russians.
Needless to say, Saudi Arabia is going to need a lot of help to do that.
So that may explain why Saudi Arabia has organized the largest "military exercise" in the history of the Middle East. CNN finally reported on this gigantic gathering of military forces in northern Saudi Arabia recently.

Saudi Arabia launched a massive military exercise that will include troops from 20 nations, state media reported Monday.
The drill, dubbed North Thunder, involves Arab and Muslim countries, according to the Saudi Press Agency. It's taking place in King Khalid Military City in northeastern Saudi Arabia.
The news agency did not provide much information on what the exercise entails but called it "the largest in the region's history." The agency said it will involve air, sea and land forces.

This is the list of nations that are reportedly participating in these "exercises" so far:
-Saudi Arabia
-Jordan
-Bahrain
-Senegal
-Oman
-Qatar
-United Arab Emirates
-Sudan
-Kuwait
-the Maldives
-Morocco
-Pakistan
-Chad
-Tunisia
-Comoro Islands
-Djibouti
-Malaysia
-Egypt
-Mauritania
-Mauritius
As I discussed yesterday, 350,000 soldiers, 20,000 tanks, 2,450 warplanes and 460 military helicopters are reportedly gathering for these "military exercises."
To me, that seems to be a great deal of overkill if the goal is just "training."

The Saudi state agency made the announcement on Sunday, adding that participating troops will begin arriving in "the next few hours."
The oil-rich nation described the exercises as "the largest and most important" military drills in the region's history.
The so-called "Northern Thunder" exercise will take place in the north of the country and will include air, sea and land forces. SPA said that it will show that Riyadh and its allies "stand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region."

So are these forces massing for a ground invasion of Syria?
We shall see.