I was at a lecture given by noted historian Bernard Lewis five or six years ago - before all hell broke loose - and he said that the only real countries in the Middle East were Iran, Israel and Egypt. Everything else was a collection of city-states and tribal fiefdoms.
Meh. Some of the most stable countries are made up of wildly diverse and sometimes incompatible elements.
I know the term “Middle East” is fluid, but Egypt is in North Africa, and Iran is in Asia.
Turkey is, mostly, in the ME. Once you get east of Iraq, though, I think you’re in Asia.
But, yeah, I was actually thinking as I typed that post earlier that “real countries” are like Iran or Egypt. And Turkey.
If we’re being pedantic, the Middle East is part of Asia.
I always remember a bit of weasel words from the disastrous Cedar Fire in San Diego, during which a newscaster reported that military equipment was unavailable to fight the fires because it was in “Southwest Asia,” i.e. Iraq. Accurate, but delibrately obfuscating if not outright misleading.
It’s something nice to juxtapose on the Nightly News with Hillary’s offer of a home for 65,000 refugees.
It’s all bullshit.
That’s an usual wording. I will use it myself in the future.
True. I was a bit sloppy and should have said Iran was in “a different part of Asia”.
And then there’s whatever Turkey is. Apparently trying really hard to be a culturally unified nation-state, to the point of erasing history. 
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-west-blinked-first-in-syria-op-ed/532207.html
During an acute crisis, international politics often resembles a game of “Who blinked first?” It seems that the West has once again blinked first, this time over the Syrian crisis. Washington had issued stern warnings to Russia almost daily over the past two weeks in response to media reports that Moscow was rapidly expanding its military presence in Syria.
Washington rightly warned Moscow that potentially explosive incidents could result if both Russian and Western coalition military aircraft were to occupy Syrian airspace simultaneously.
Moscow responded exactly as it did during the Ukrainian crisis — by smirking and denying the presence of Russian forces while simultaneously deploying an air base near Latakia that U.S. officials claim now includes several Su-30 combat aircraft. Russia even equipped the base with an anti-aircraft missile system — despite the fact that the Islamic State has no air force.
Washington lost its nerve as a result. U.S. military chiefs agreed to speak by telephone with their Russian counterparts for the first time since the crisis in Ukraine began. However, the Russians did not admit to having a military presence in Syria.
. . .
The West cannot seem to switch gears and understand that the new Cold War is here to stay. The question now is not whether or not to hold talks with Russia, but to the contrary, how to ensure military security for both sides under current conditions.
However, to achieve that the West has no choice but to speak in direct, unequivocal language that Putin can understand — language that does not allow for conflicting interpretations. And that requires political willpower.
Apparently, that is a task for future Western leaders because today’s are clearly failing to cope.
A.G.
And Turkey will be the next post-Versailles nation to begin to break up.
Reported.
For… plagiarism??
Original or stolen, it’s a content free post regardless.
Alkash, do not violate copyright laws by pasting entire articles to this message board.
Partiucularly, do not plagiarize other’s words without even providing attirbution ot the sources.
[ /Moderating ]
Syria has more in common with Lebanon than Afghanistan. An important part of the end of the Lebanese civil war was Syria inserting troops. I expect Turkey will have to deploy troops to Syria eventually. Maybe Turkey and Iran together to appease both side of the sectarian divide. Erdogan will have to be gone before this is a possibility.
There’s also the possibility that the Alawai and Christians will withdraw to Alawai heartland and set up a state there (Alawite State). Possible with Russian and Iranian support. ISIS and the West can have the rest.
While Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a hot head and what he is doing against the Kurds is nothing more than punishing their political party before the election, he is not a sectarian instigator.
Turkey does not support the killings in Syria, you know most of which is done by Assad. That is what Iran is doing. Iran’s militias are also very sectarian and so it’s policies, in Iraq, Yemen, etc.
So really it would better for the region if the Ayatollahs and their “moderate” stooge Hassan Rouhani and the lovely Revolutionary Guards were to get gone than the Turkish president.
Regionally besides Syria, Iran is a trouble maker. It calls for Yemen’s neighbors not to intervene in the country but oddly seems to think it has the right to meddle and support Houthi rebels. So no nation should support rebels in Syria, but Iran may do so in Yemen? Right-hypocrisy.
Erdogan supported ISIS as documented by among other things papers retrieved by US special forces. Although the support may have dried up after the last terror attack in Turkey and I presume intense international backroom pressure. But in any case, it’s very unlikely that the either of the government side or the Kurd side would be ready to accept Turkish troops as anything but an invading force. To counter this they could team up with the Iranians, which could help sooth those fears – at least those of the Alwite & Christians – and provide direct protection for those people. But whatever, it’s not like it’s likely it’s going to happen.
I think you’re putting down an US or Israeli ideological driven interpretation of Iran, which is not conductive to a solution on the Syrian civil war.
The attribution is properly attached to the post in question
lol. tomndebb put it there. Regardless, that was way too huge a cut and paste for around here, especially when you didn’t put anything of your own in the post.
So, Messrs. Obama and Putin are meeting on Tuesday to discuss Syria. How exactly will President Putin outplay his opponent?