Military option against Assad-foe extremists impending

How many times have we listened to various world leaders saying Bashar al-Assad's days are numbered, speeches that have only speculated a false hope for those vying for such an end to the bloody conflict? Many have also voiced criticism against and disappointment because of the West's unwillingness to militarily engage the Baath'ist regime that has indiscriminately killed the Syrians for far too long. Yet now, I suggest, if there is any chance for a military operation of any kind, it will be against the extremists fighting the Assad camp. And it is approaching fast!

It is no secret that Moscow is very worried about the growing might of the extremists on the Syrian territory because it believes any conclusive victory on their part - al-Nusra Front and possibly other similar groups -- against Assad would encourage extremist unrest in its own southern regions as well as putting all its interests in Syria at stake. So the Russians would be very pleased if those Assad-foe extremists were to be somehow defeated. This is the first point.

Because of Israeli concerns similar to that of Russians, Washington too was concerned, but last month's bombings in Boston did help the Obama administration put more thought into it while also shaping the American public opinion for any military move against the extremists in Syria. To be honest, I always found the timing and the perpetrators (they were two brothers from southern Russia) of the bombings very suspicious. This is the second.

And then there has been the recent incident in the UK. The barbaric hacking of a British soldier to death near a military barracks in London in front of many eyewitnesses by extremists has also helped push the issue more to the fore of our global agenda, facilitating any military operation against extremism in Syria. To me, that the London attackers didn't even choose to run, instead talking to bystanders and to a camera to detail their motives was almost like a planned PR campaign. This is the third.

All in all, we now know the US and Russia have agreed on a second Geneva meeting where the participants -- among them will be representatives from the Assad regime and the political wing of the Syrian opposition -- are expected to work on details of a transition process in Syria, a plan of which Ankara has been apparently convinced during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's recent visit to Washington. Should there be a consensus on a political solution, the only obstacle to it from within Syria would be the extremists. And eliminating them from the equation will be a common goal. We have reasons to expect a swift use of military force against them before public opinion loses its preparedness on the subject.