The Eye Doctor and the Painter

He was eager to work in his profession. Fate, however, had other plans for him. His older brother,Bassel, the one expected by all to be their father's successor, died in a car accident, and so, he, Bashar al Assad, the eye doctor, became Syria's notorious president.

He's got them all on his back: Russia, America, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Hezballa. His life is one long, bloody  struggle to survive, using whatever he has, inclusive chemicals .

I'm not sure about  Donald Trump's intentions in the region, but his two younger predecessors Bush and Obama made it clear they wished to carry out what they called  'installing democracy in the Middle East'.  Their actions were set to achieve that by getting rid of the dictators in the region. 

Bush got Saddam of Irak eliminated. 
Obama was more ambitious. His 'Arab Spring ' campaign got Khaddafi of Lybia eliminated,  Mubarak of Egypt put in jail . 
He failed , however, to touch Assad. probably because of  the russians who were there  intimidating whoever sought to approach and harm their protegee.

Anyway, Assad could have been  a good doctor,  a people's eyesight saver . But when Fate intervenes, there's nothing one can do about. 

It somehow reminds me of Hitler, who could have been,  a good painter, and  perhaps, a decent human being. Fate intervened - the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, refused to accept him for studies as he failed the entrance exam twice.  So, our mediocre painter Adolf  went into politics instead, and the rest is.... History.

Mosul, Raqqah, Allepo

Memorize the above names! World War3  might emerge from the area that leads to, fro, and around these places. 

Mosul is a city in northern Iraq;  it's located on the banks of the Tigris river. It's rich in historical buildings. It has a university (closed now) and a medical college.The population is diverse ethnically and religiously, with the majority being Arabs, and the dominant religion - suuni Islam.

Raqqah is a city in Syria; it is situated on the northeast bank of the Euphrates river not far from the largest syrian dam Al Tabqa which has enabled electricity and irrigation to rural parts of Syria. The city has many archeological remains and a museum.
Its main agricultural product is cotton.

Both places were conqured by Daesh (ISIS) in 2014 ; at present. there's a military offensive going on against the ISIS people.  The involved parties are: Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, USA ( in coalition with its western allies), and Russia.

It seems that Daesh with all the atrocities done by it, is only a secondary target, the main target being Syria's president, Assad. The americans want him out (as part of their "arab spring" goals), the russians want him in. Putin acts on Syria's soil upon invitation from Assad. The other forces that go after Daesh into syrian territory are sort of invasive, and this fact also adds fuel to the fire.

Aleppo (Halab in arabic) once Syria's largest city, is close to the turkish border. It has always had a strategic position as a trading center between central Asia and  middle-eastern Asia. It's currently divided between the West part (held by the syrian government) and the East part (held by the rebels who are backed by the USA and its allies in the region - Turkey and Jordan) ;  fight between the two sides has been going on  there for several years. 

I don't think Putin is interested in  a world war now as his country is in a bad economic situation, and wars cost lots and lots of money. But who knows, the sanctions imposed on Russia by the americans and their interference in Ukraine matters, have greatly offended and affected his ego and he might take the wrong decisions.

Anyway the world is quite the orphan now. May God help us!

The Syrian Saga

                                                         (web picture)

Syria is a small country which might, God forbid, become the cradle of a big disaster called World War 3.

Those who think, how noble on the part of Europe to open its gates to syrian refugees - think again. It would have been more noble if Europe had done something real to restore the order in Syria, and  thus prevent the flood of refugees which is bad for all parties: Europe feels 'invaded" by people of another religion and mentality, the syrian refugees , unrooted from their natural environment, are planted in places where they'll loose their identity and dignity, becoming second-hand citizens  for life.

Putin is trying now to do something about restoring that order. It's a bit late, but better late than never, as they say.  His chances to succeed , that's entirely another matter. He's not alone, the iranians are there too;  their main concern is to consolidate Assad's regime, and so, bring some kind of stability to the region where they also do have interests of their own.

It might work , if  the americans won't interfere. It is the americans who have started the whole  thing with the "arab spring' concept, and the naive demand for democracy to replace the heads of Mubarak, Khaddafi, Assad - the result being total chaos followed by the appearance in the area of the new, barbaric player called Daesh.

My guess is that Obama ,won't leave office in 2016 without  first bringing about an armed conflict with Russia , conflict which might eventually escalate into a world war. The clash has started with the sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine dispute, and is now going on with the russians' effort to save Assad which is not what the americans want.  I can only hope my guess turns out to be wrong. 

Anyway, as an  israeli, I don't trust any of the above (russians, americans, certainly not iranians)). We'll just have to wait and see how things evolve.