In recent weeks we’ve seen scores of civilian men, women and children massacred in the Syrian towns of Homs and Tremseh, a Turkish (NATO) plane shot down over international airspace, some 10,000 armed insurgents enter the country across the Lebanese border, and what amounts to nothing short of total anarchy and civil war in the streets of Syria that has left an estimated 17,000 people dead. Western nations have condemned the actions of the Syrian government, calling for a peaceful resolution, but some observers suggest that we’ve be doing exactly the opposite, and rather than looking for a peaceful solution, all indicators point to a growing powder keg that’s set to blow at any moment. The Russians were recently caught transferring armaments to the middle east nation amid condemnation from the Obama administration, with Secretary of State Clinton telling Russia they will “pay a price” for their attempts at halting progress in the region.

Late last week headlines across the world raised the alert level even higher. According to intelligence reports President Assad has begun mobilizing his weapons of mass destruction arsenal. Though Colon Powell may not be available to show us the location of the WMDs this time around, “intelligence” reports from western agencies indicate that Assad is preparing to deploy chemical weapons, including sarin, cyanida and mustard gas, on the rebellious population of Syria.

The situation is now at a head, and two key developments in the last 24 hours indicate that whatever NATO has planned for Syria – be it a Libyan style no-fly zone or a full on Iraqiesque invasion – will soon come to pass.

First, a final warning was reportedly sent to the Assad government through intelligence back channels that threatened airstrikes on his weapons facilities:

…today, the Syrian ruler was given a “last warning” through intelligence channels in the West to leave the warheads and shells loaded with mustard gas, sarin and cyanide where they are. If he dared move them out of the northern and central locations where he deployed them last week, they would be destroyed from the air.

Source: Debka File

Second, likely a tell-tale sign that NATO military action will soon be initiated in Syria, several of Assad’s top generals and key security figures have fled the country with their families.

Several high-placed generals bolted Bashar Assad’s inner circle Sunday, July 17, including such key figures as two security services chiefs who were operations commanders of the Alawite Shabiha militia plus the former head of Syria’s chemical and biological administration who took six other generals with him. They all fled to Turkey and defected. A fourth senior general from another security service was assassinated in Aleppo.

…

1.  They all managed to spirit their families out of Syria well before they absconded themselves, an operation that must have required weeks of careful and secret preparation. The failure of Assad’s many-tentacled, clandestine agencies to discover what was up and foil the walkouts, attests to serious lapses in their notorious efficiency.

2.  All the defectors served in Damascus at the regime’s nerve center for suppressing the revolt.

3.  They all made tracks for Beirut before making their way to Turkey. Neverthetheless, the extensive spy networks run by Iran and Hizballah in the Lebanese capital failed to pick up on the city’s use as a way station for Syrian defectors in flight to Turkey.

4.  Despite their active roles in crushing the civil uprising in Syria, those generals clearly hoped to escape the consequences of their actions and becoming liable for prosecution.  The Red Cross Committee in Geneva, the first international organization to call the violence in Syria a full-blown civil war, made it clear Sunday, July 15, that international humanitarian law applied henceforth throughout the country and provided a basis for war crimes prosecution, especially if civilians were attacked.

(source)

Top level military and intelligence officials within the Assad government are bugging out after reports surfaced that chemical weapons are in play and “last” warnings from the west have been issued.

We’ve seen similar circumstances before, in Iraq, where those who didn’t defect had their names and pictures placed on a deck of cards and were hunted down by Western forces. It looks as if the Syrians see the writing on the wall and don’t want to end up in front of an international war crimes tribunal or at the business end of a drone strike.

UN / NATO military action is coming to Syria, and it could very easily lead to a global crisis that pits western nations against Russia and China, who have been in solidarity with the Assad government.

As we’ve suggested before, it’s only a matter of time before the Russians and Chinese finally step in to counter the hegemony of western powers in the oil-rich middle east.

Many have pointed to Iran as being the breaking point and potential catalyst for World War III.

What if it’s Syria? And, what if it starts in the next few months?