If Riyadh and its partners actually intend to send troops to Syria, it will be an incredibly risky move that will prolong the civil war.
On Feb. 4, the spokesman for the Saudi military, Brigadier General Ahmed al Asiri, made a bold announcement. The Gulf kingdom, he said, would commit troops to a ground operation against ISIS if the United States asked it to and if the coalition agreed to it. Asiri made the statement sitting in front of the flags of all six Gulf Cooperation Councilmember states, implying that Saudi Arabia could take up the mantle of leading a grand Arab coalition to fight in Syria.
Not two weeks later, it seems Riyadh is keeping good on its word. According to the Turkish foreign minister, Saudi troops and fighter jets have already arrived at Turkey’s Incirlik airbase and are preparing for operations in Syria. Also, Saudi sources speaking to Arabic media claim that the kingdom will run training exercises with its own forces alongside troops from Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, and other countries in preparation for the fight against ISIS, the so-called Islamic State.