sraeli military planes are NOW flying over Syria and bombing pro-Assad targets.

Journalists have been directly ORDERED not to report this.  

https://www.rt.com/news/418445-israeli-airstrikes-syria-dialogue/">https://www.rt.com/news/418445-israeli-airstrikes-syria-dialogue/:

Max Blumenthal, author and senior editor at The Real News, acknowledges that what took place on Saturday was a “dramatic incident,” and if the F-16 really did crash as a result of Syrian fire that would make it “the first Israeli plane that Syria has downed since 1982.”

But, he argues, it is not in Israel’s interest to escalate the conflict. “Benjamin Netanyahu was in the opposition when the Israeli government attacked southern Lebanon and lost to Hezbollah in 2006, and he fears another escalation in which Hezbollah is substantially stronger after the experience it’s gained on the Syrian battlefield,” Blumenthal told RT.

While Israel has once again routinely blamed the entire episode on the Iranians, Blumenthal believes Damascus might have finally lost its patience over constant violations of its sovereignty and the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights.

http://thesaker.is/who-is-doing-what-in-syria-and-why/">http://thesaker.is/who-is-doing-what-in-syria-and-why/

DJ-At this moment "no news"means "preparations for further actions" on all sides. The only good thing seems to be that Russia is able to have some influence on Netanyahu-with also good contacts on the other countries involved. 

Should Israel escalate to a bigger war it will be covered with hundreds of missiles per hour. Normal civil life would come to a stand still. Lebanon and Syria would also be under severe attacks but are better positioned to endure such a situation.

Russia, as well as the U.S., could be come involved and into direct conflict. This must be avoided at all cost. But the current personal in White House, especially the military triumvirate behind the president, is of dubious quality. Moscow is hopefully aware of this.

The United States of America has been reviewing possible options for military force to stop North Korea's nuclear weapons program, and a consensus has been arrived at calling for a "Bloody Nose" attack.  But sources in the Intelligence Community have now confirmed to me that this "bloody nose" attack WILL BE NUCLEAR!

The two scenarios being actively discussed are:

1) A High Yield attack using 10 W-88 warheads against five targets resulting in "2-3 Million Dead in North and South Korea,"  OR;

2) A Low Yield attack using twenty B-61 warheads against five targets resulting in "less than 100 dead."

Erdogan did not get his “no fly zone” like the US did, so now he is playing his Kurd card, moving his army and FSA mercenaries into NW Syria to play king on the mountain, daring anyone to push him out.

He has the Russians over a barrel with the major gas pipeline deal, and got his S-400s largely on credit, which he can default on if and when he wants to. Iran has no leverage over Turkey at this point, despite their having a shotgun marriage for a while helping the Iraqis deal with their crazy Kurds.

Their leaders had robbed them blind and borrowed billions on their oil reserves. Whatever is done, Baghdad will want to continue shipping  Kurdish oil out through Turkey.

Erdogan is setting the stage for the Sochi talks in a big way. He will be there and the US won’t.

So you have to hand it to Erdogan, getting himself into the middle of everybody’s business where he can cause them more pain than they him.

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/01/who-lost-turkey-the-us-kurdish-project-in-syria-endangers-nato-.html">http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/01/who-lost-turkey-the-us-kurdish-project-in-syria-endangers-nato-.html

Erdogan, though unwillingly, changed sides and now works with Russia (and Syria) to bring the war to a conclusion. "Regime change" in Damascus has become an unlikely scenario he no longer supports. At the same time he is still willing to invest money and forces to gain something for his failed investment in the war. Taking Afrin to later incorporate it into an enlarged Turkey is one of those plays. He is clearly still aiming for additional territory. The U.S. now offered him some in form of a safe zone in Syria:

bigger

Ilhan tanir @WashingtonPoint - 7:50 PM - 24 Jan 2018
This map being discussed all day on Turkish TVs as Turkey’s planned security zone/safe zone on Syria border.
Reportedly OK’ed by Sec.Tillerson though nobody on the American side confirms it

If the U.S. indeed made the "safe zone" offer - Tillerson did not deny today to have made such - it found a rather cold response:

Washington’s proposal for the creation of a “security zone” along Turkey’s 911-kilometer border with Syria has received a cool reply from Ankara, with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu urging the U.S. to first take steps to “re-build trust” between the two allies before discussing such military matters.
...
“The U.S. needs to stop delivering weapons to the YPG. It needs to push the YPG to withdrawing from Manbij if it wants to re-build confidence with Turkey … We have to see all these commitments fulfilled,” Çavuşoğlu said.

It is the U.S. supported founding of a Kurdish state-let in north-east Syria which is Ankara's most serious security concern. No "safe zone" will help if the U.S. military continues to build and supplies a Kurdish "border force" that can penetrate Turkey's south-eastern underbelly - now, tomorrow or in ten years. Unless the U.S. stops that project and retreats from the area Turkey will continue to push against it - if necessary by force.

(DJ-If the 30km-safe zone is OK for the US-the US has lost the Kurds. The Turkish Army may be moving into their own Yemen-war.)

https://www.rt.com/news/416971-germany-turkey-afrin-nato/">https://www.rt.com/news/416971-germany-turkey-afrin-nato/

War US-Russia/China

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/01/25/550183/US-China-Russia-nuclear-weapons-James-Jatras

America’s flawed political leadership and planned expansion of nuclear weapons will lead to a major conflict with Russia and China, says a former US foreign policy adviser and diplomat.

“There is definitely a move towards a new arms race with Russia, the kind of thing that should have ended completely when the first Cold War with the Soviet Union ended,” James Jatras said in an interview with Press TV on Thursday.

“This is a consequence less of military technology than it is of very bad political leadership,” he added. “This eventually can lead in one thing and that’s a major war.”

US-Pakistan

https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/01/25/why-pakistan-us-ties-reached-point-of-no-return/