Not too many players really want peace in Syria

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Dec 26, 2015 at 15:42

Ooh boy!

I thank you, Daniel, that you went to the debate and not I. What was this thing? An Iranian and an American talking about the situation in Syria -- a place that has become a proxy war between Turkey and Russia, a place led by a brutal dictator, also the home of the most proudly, graphically obscene movement in the world (Da'esh), a place where Russian, American, French and Israeli jets go about courtseying to one another as they fly through its skies, all targetting different people. One cannot have high expectations of anything meaningful coming out of such a discussion, can one?

I rather like the hummingbird that just landed on the tree outside my window. Hummingbirds are so simple, so rational... They certainly squabble with other hummingbirds, sometimes for as long as a minute. But then one acknowledges defeat, and rests in a nearby tree while the other drinks his fill, and then he takes his turn at the feeder. If hummingbirds were in charge in Syria, perhaps it would be a more peaceful place. Perhaps... and perhaps not.

There is an air of hypocrisy on both sides in your debate, Daniel. The Iranians hate Israel, and are militarily supporting Assad; so of course, they are "supporters of the legitimate government in Damascus". You, on the other hand, are Jewish, the son of a Holocaust survivor, and will take on all comers who want to wipe Israel (and hence the Jews) off the earth. Neither of you is really concerned for the Syrian people who, if they had their way, would kill Assad, the Iranians, Hizbullah, the Russians, the Turks and any other outsiders in their country, then wipe out half of their own countrymen, and then go on Jihad against Israel.

Press TV can thank Assad and his allies, as well as Da'esh and all the rebel factions, for making their broadcast possible. If it weren't for them, and the unending war they've generated, Press TV would have to use a "Globe Trekker" format to report on the place, whose most exciting happenings would be colorful bazaars selling the best baklava in the world. I would like that. My hummingbird friends would also like it. Dream on... Too many people, besides Press TV, have too much to gain from the conflict in Syria: The Iranians want the country as a conduit to Hizbullah, for their war against the "Little Satan" (Israel). The Turks want it, as the jumping-off place of their Ottoman imperial ambitions; the Russians want a warm-weather navy base; the Jihadis want a terrorist haven; and Israel frankly profits from having its enemies so busied about with killing one another, they haven't got the energy to spare to attack Israel.

I think the only ones who would really like there to be peace in Syria are the Europeans, who are overwhelmed by the influx of Syrian refugees.

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