If the GCC is involved, what is to keep them from invading Iraq from the south then turning east and taking out Iran. Why wait for Iran to have Nukes?
I’m not a rocket surgeon but.....
They don’t need to invade Iraq from the south. The goal apparently is to partition, to reorganize the geography along Islamic denominational lines, to undo the artificial lines drawn to create Syria and Iraq. The objective is being obtained by invading Iraq from the north.
Recall if you will, that initially there was a coalition including America, GCC, and Turkey supporting the opposition to Assad. The HQ was in Turkey, just over the Syrian border. Obama dropped out. What we are now seeing is the apparent solution developed by Turkey/GCC to the Syrian problem and the Sunni/Shia schism in Iraq.
By eliminating Assad’s Syria they have significantly contained Iran. Syria is the source of supply to Hamas and to Hezbollah. Then there is another and I must confess completely unimagined strategy, remove the Iraqi Sunni territory from Maliki/Shia control. In so doing, any strengthened relations between Maliki/Iran is weakened considerably.
I consider Turkey to be a very significant player in the current events. Like the GCC though they play their cards close and don’t announce in advance what they are doing.
Regarding the nucs, what we have seen is that the nuc program can be set back or seriously delayed by means other than bombing from the air. We don’t know who did it and don’t know what we don’t know about derailing the nuc program beyond what is in the news.
Then there is Egypt...... The Turkey/GCC coalition was not happy with the brotherhood..... they backed the Egyptian money interests and military and cleaned up the mess. They don’t seem likely to allow a similar uncontained situation to develop in the new Iraq/Syria area.
History is a process, not an event...... the process began with the extirmination of Saddam. We are witness to significant historical change