While this analysis seems to address current conditions on the ground, it fails to understand that Trump's goals in Syria are whatever Putin tells him they are.
This is a timely and necessary warning. And it's worse than the article describes. I've seen it, and smelled it. The Lower Kidron Valley is an open sewer that drains much of eastern Jerusalem. Tens of thousands of gallons of raw sewage flow down it every day, and the stench is unbelievable. I have pictures.
For folks who haven't lived and worked a lifetime in the Middle East, here's a short list of long books that are merely part of the required background to having any clue about what's happening in Syria. Every one of these is a classic, and well worth reading at anytime. But essential now. They are all available on Amazon.
History of the Crusades v. 1-3. Steven Runciman. Publisher: Books Events - Special Repackaged Edition (2011). Originally published in 1951. ISBN-10: 1780812213. Especially Volume 1.
The Guns of August. Barbara W. Tuchman. Publisher: Presidio Press (2004). Originally published in 1963. ISBN-10: 0345476093.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom. T. E. Lawrence. Doubleday Doran & Co.; 1st edition (1935). For the simple beauty of his English prose and its keen sense of ethnography and place, Lawrence's book is a must read. But read the next one to get an idea of how much Lawrence was having us on in his own account.
Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East. Scott Anderson. Doubleday (2013). ISBN-10: 038553292X. This is a fascinating read, and fill in many gaps deliberately left by Lawrence.
A Peace to End All Peace, 20th Anniversary Edition: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East. David Fromkin. Holt Paperbacks; 2 Reprint edition (2009). ISBN-10: 0805088091.
The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam. Barbara W. Tuchman. Random House (1985). ISBN-10: 0345308239.
Orientalism. Edward Said. Vintage Books (1979). ISBN-10: 039474067X. (And my peeps who have lived and worked a lifetime in the Middle East will recognize the irony of including this masterpiece).
The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East. Robert Fisk. Vintage Books (2007). ISBN-10: 1400075173. If you're not in tears after the first chapter, you're hardly human; and it just gets worse.
Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon. Robert Fisk. Nation Books; 4th edition (2002). ISBN-10: 1560254424. As background to the civil war in Syria, this history of the little war in Lebanon should be required reading.
History of the Arabs, Revised: 10th Edition. Philip Hitti. Palgrave Macmillan; 10th edition (2002). ISBN-10: 0333631420.
While this analysis seems to address current conditions on the ground, it fails to understand that Trump's goals in Syria are whatever Putin tells him they are.
This is a timely and necessary warning. And it's worse than the article describes. I've seen it, and smelled it. The Lower Kidron Valley is an open sewer that drains much of eastern Jerusalem. Tens of thousands of gallons of raw sewage flow down it every day, and the stench is unbelievable. I have pictures.
An interesting, and accurate analysis, though the unfortunate wording does make Damacus into the asshole of Syria...when Assad already has that job.
For folks who haven't lived and worked a lifetime in the Middle East, here's a short list of long books that are merely part of the required background to having any clue about what's happening in Syria. Every one of these is a classic, and well worth reading at anytime. But essential now. They are all available on Amazon.
History of the Crusades v. 1-3. Steven Runciman. Publisher: Books Events - Special Repackaged Edition (2011). Originally published in 1951. ISBN-10: 1780812213. Especially Volume 1.
The Guns of August. Barbara W. Tuchman. Publisher: Presidio Press (2004). Originally published in 1963. ISBN-10: 0345476093.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom. T. E. Lawrence. Doubleday Doran & Co.; 1st edition (1935). For the simple beauty of his English prose and its keen sense of ethnography and place, Lawrence's book is a must read. But read the next one to get an idea of how much Lawrence was having us on in his own account.
Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East. Scott Anderson. Doubleday (2013). ISBN-10: 038553292X. This is a fascinating read, and fill in many gaps deliberately left by Lawrence.
A Peace to End All Peace, 20th Anniversary Edition: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East. David Fromkin. Holt Paperbacks; 2 Reprint edition (2009). ISBN-10: 0805088091.
The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam. Barbara W. Tuchman. Random House (1985). ISBN-10: 0345308239.
Orientalism. Edward Said. Vintage Books (1979). ISBN-10: 039474067X. (And my peeps who have lived and worked a lifetime in the Middle East will recognize the irony of including this masterpiece).
The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East. Robert Fisk. Vintage Books (2007). ISBN-10: 1400075173. If you're not in tears after the first chapter, you're hardly human; and it just gets worse.
Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon. Robert Fisk. Nation Books; 4th edition (2002). ISBN-10: 1560254424. As background to the civil war in Syria, this history of the little war in Lebanon should be required reading.
History of the Arabs, Revised: 10th Edition. Philip Hitti. Palgrave Macmillan; 10th edition (2002). ISBN-10: 0333631420.