So now we do have some interest there? Oil? Gold? Did they all of a sudden obtain something that we need? Sand maybe?
A few years ago some beaches in California were importing white sand from Florida. What color is the sand in Syria?
Not at all, Syria has nothing we need. The problem is that ISIS sprawls across Syria, Kurdistan, and Irag. This is not about the Syrian Civil War, It's about SOF support for the people on the ground who are fighting against ISIS. Primarily the Kurds and the Iraqis, where we have had troops all along, thousands of them. It will be mostly CIA for the Syrian rebels because that conflict is more complicated. They are fighting ISIS, and we support that effort. But they are all fighting Assad and other Syrian rebel groups for control of Syria. That is the fight we are trying to stay out of. Destroying ISIS is the fight we have an interest in. The strategy, that we learned the hard way, is to make the locals get invested in their own security. If we do it for them, we have to do it forever. The long strategy is still the same . . . degrade them until they implode. The SOF are not trying to overthrow ISIS, they are enabling the locals to be strong enough to take charge when ISIS is defeated. And beholden to us, not Russia.
i am still in Beirut. It's very safe. I got really drunk last night and it was awesome. The dudes at the bars tell me they think the entire city here is safe, even for whitey like me, and even in hezbollah neighborhoods. They also tell me I could take the bus to Damascus and be fine. I think this is true but I haven't really researched it enough and I am going to Athens in a few days so I don't really have time to go to Damascus. The drunk fellas and i all agree that going to Aleppo would be ill advised. Anyways , Lebanon isn't really scared of Isis because they are sure the Lebanese army can stop them easily. So there is your update from your middle east correspondent.
Good call. The rules of engagement keep changing for all of the hundreds of sides in this war. I would really like to visit the Crusader Castles in Lebanon and Syria, I love military architecture. They have a ton of them. Well, the Iraqis thought that, too . . .
do i simply search for martin when im looking for a dude who had his head sawed off with a butter knife.
