Cpt Jack Sparrow

iTrader: (14)

In case you don't know what's happening in the middle east.

President Assad ( who is bad ) is a nasty guy who got so nasty his people rebelled and the Rebels ( who are good ) started winning ( Hurrah!).
But then some of the rebels turned a bit nasty and are now called Islamic State ( who are definitely bad!) and some continued to support democracy ( who are still good.)

So the Americans ( who are questionably good ) started bombing Islamic State ( who are bad ) and giving arms to the Syrian Rebels ( who are good ) so they could fight Assad ( who is still bad ) which was good.
By the way, there is a breakaway state in the north run by the Kurds who want to fight IS ( which is a good thing ) but the Turkish authorities think they are bad, so we have to say they are bad whilst secretly thinking they're good and giving them guns to fight IS (which is good) but that is another matter.

Getting back to Syria.
So President Putin ( who is bad, cos he invaded Crimea and the Ukraine and killed lots of folks including that nice Russian man in London with polonium poisoned sushi ) has decided to back Assad ( who is still bad ) by attacking IS ( who are also bad ) which is sort of a good thing?

But Putin ( still bad ) thinks the Syrian Rebels ( who are good ) are also bad, and so he bombs them too, much to the annoyance of the Americans ( who are good ) who are busy backing and arming the rebels ( who are also good).

Now Iran ( who used to be bad, but now they have agreed not to build any nuclear weapons and bomb Israel are now good ) are going to provide ground troops to support Assad ( still bad ) as are the Russians ( bad ) who now have ground troops and aircraft in Syria.

So a Coalition of Assad ( still bad ) Putin ( extra bad ) and the Iranians ( good, but in a bad sort of way ) are going to attack IS ( who are bad ) which is a good thing, but also the Syrian Rebels ( who are good ) which is bad.

Now the British ( obviously good, except that nice Mr Corbyn in the corduroy jacket, who is probably bad ) and the Americans ( also good ) cannot attack Assad ( still bad ) for fear of upsetting Putin ( bad ) and Iran ( good / bad) and now they have to accept that Assad might not be that bad after all compared to IS ( who are super bad).

So Assad ( bad ) is now probably good, being better than IS ( but let’s face it, drinking your own wee is better than IS so no real choice there ) and since Putin and Iran are also fighting IS that may now make them Good. America ( still Good ) will find it hard to arm a group of rebels being attacked by the Russians for fear of upsetting Mr Putin ( now good ) and that nice mad Ayatollah in Iran ( also Good ) and so they may be forced to say that the Rebels are now Bad, or at the very least abandon them to their fate. This will lead most of them to flee to Turkey and on to Europe or join IS ( still the only constantly bad group).

To Sunni Muslims, an attack by Shia Muslims ( Assad and Iran ) backed by Russians will be seen as something of a Holy War, and the ranks of IS will now be seen by the Sunnis as the only Jihadis fighting in the Holy War and hence many Muslims will now see IS as Good ( Doh!.)

Sunni Muslims will also see the lack of action by Britain and America in support of their Sunni rebel brothers as something of a betrayal ( mmm.might have a point.) and hence we will be seen as Bad.

So now we have America ( now bad ) and Britain ( also bad ) providing limited support to Sunni Rebels ( bad ) many of whom are looking to IS ( Good / bad ) for support against Assad ( now good ) who, along with Iran ( also Good) and Putin ( also, now, unbelievably, Good ) are attempting to retake the country Assad used to run before all this started?

So, now that you fully understand everything, all your questions are answered.

Martin2005

I assume the point that whoever wrote this is; it's a bloody mess - no ****

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Quite a good read actually to try to make general sense of the overall situation.

hodgy0_2

I suspect the Kurds are more important than a single mention might suggest

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

And you forgot why Britain got involved, it wasn't long ago when Cameron said Russia's bombing campaign will lead to further radicalisation and increased terrorism (4th October).

And now ?

Just don't forget who was in David Cameron sights before ISIS, 2 years ago he campaigned to bomb Assad but never got the support. He's not in Syria for ISIS he's still out for Assad, along with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Europe and America. Read about a natural gas pipeline from Qatar to Europe, that passes through Syria and the fact that Assad refused to let it happen in support of its ally Russia. The pipeline would replace Russia as the main supplier of natural gas to Europe and benefit all of the countries that appose Assad. The reason why Russia is now involved and why it was attacking all rebels and not just ISIS.

zip106

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread968508/pg1

lozgti1

lol

stipete75

This.
Don’t let the corrupt MM fool you, the strife in Syria has been engineered to provide cover for a war for access to oil and gas, and the power and money that come along with it. Simples.

daviee

Over 3 and a half hours a very good watch

matty01

The middle east is a bit like quantum mechanics , if you think you understand it you definitely don't.