The print publication was one and the same: The Washington
Post. The date of publication was one and the same: June 22, 2017. The question
was one and the same: What is going on?
After that series of sameness came the divergence. It's that
the question was asked by two authors. One is Charles Krauthammer who asked the
question at the start of an article titled: “The Great Muslim civil war –– and
Us.” The other author is Fareed Zakaria who asked the question at the end of an
article titled: “The United
States is stumbling into another decade of
war”.
Zakaria is baffled at what he sees unfolding all over the
world. He writes as if to express the lament: That's not how it was supposed to
be. Nevertheless, he tries to make sense of what's out there by looking at the
past and cataloging the events that may have led to the current situation, but
he's not sure he's got it right. And so he ends the article by asking the
question: What is going on?
As to Krauthammer, he never gave up on the idea of a Jewish
dominated Pax Americana taking control of the Middle East, and make it serve
the interests of Israel .
After a hiatus that lasted a number of years, he now sees a new window opening
for the realization of that dream. He looks at the latest clashes involving the
major powers in the Middle Eastern conflict, and sees a future that's brighter
than it has been for a while. He ignores the past and any lesson that could be
learned from it, and asks the question: What is going on?
He asks, not to be told what is happening; he asks to turn
around and tell what is happening. To that end, he answers his own question by
lecturing to the audience. He tells it he knows what other people think, and
how they will respond to events as they unfold in the future. In fact, he makes
it clear he can peek into the future. He is so confident of that, he speaks
with the certainty of a prophet that just had an audience with God who filled
him in on future events.
Realizing that he doesn't have all the answers, Fareed
Zakaria asks a number of questions in this vein: “more troops, more bombings,
more missions. But what is the underlying strategy?” He also makes observations
of this kind: “US forces
have been initiating attacks, resulting in a sharp rise in civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria .” And he offers commentaries
such as this: “If Assad gets weaker, the opposition forces will get stronger. US troops could find themselves on the ground in
Syria ”.
And then, looking at the history of America 's involvement in recent
wars, Zakaria reminds the audience of the following painful reality: “In almost
every situation that US forces were involved, the solutions were more political
than military.” The not-so-subtle message is that the wars were a waste of time,
of lives and of treasure.
As to Charles Krauthammer, he predicts the end of ISIS ... what many have been predicting for a time now.
He goes beyond this, however, and offers the view that “the [winning] parties
are maneuvering to shape what comes next.” He also tells who the dominant
players are: The United States and Russia , he says. And he tells who
their surrogates are: The United States has the Sunni Arab states on its side.
As to Russia , it has Iran , Syria and Hezbollah on its side.
He goes on to opine that the leaders of Iran wish to re-establish the old Persian Empire
by creating a Shiite Crescent
that will extend from Iran
to the Mediterranean . It will encompass Iraq , Syria
and Lebanon ,
he says, thus become the hegemon of the region the way things were 2,300 years
ago.
Conscious of the fact that this will negate the
establishment of Pax Americana, and will deny Israel the spoils of the effort,
Krauthammer describes that outcome in frightening terms. Here it is:
“Imagine the scenario: a unified Syria
under Assad; Hezbollah, tip of the Iranian spear, dominant in Lebanon ; Iran ,
the regional arbiter; and Russia ,
with its Syrian bases, the outside hegemon. Our preferred course is different:
a loosely federated Syria ,
partitioned and cantonized, in which Assad might be left in charge of an
Alawite rump. The Iranian-Russian strategy is a nightmare for the entire Sunni
Middle East. And for us too”.