Syrian crisis: World waits to see if the U.S. will strike

[earlyriser]

Really interesting article from the Washington post which gives a great (and concise) guide to the background on the current situation, and why the use of chemical weapons will finally provoke a reaction.

9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask :
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...sk/?tid=pm_pop

That's a great article. The most important thing to realise with conflicts like this in the Middle East is contained in the first section's brief description of Syria. It mentions the borders that were drawn up by the Europeans, effectively forcing all these tribes and religious denominations with wildly opposing views to live together under one ruling party (or dictator) and much of the time oppression results. This is why Western governments prefer secularist dictators like your Mubaraks and Assads. They keep everyone in line. The world is changing though and the West will have to accept that the people of the Arab world have to choose and overthrow their own leaders.