SYRIA – Universal Battlefield

Syria is the new battlefield for the world’s proxy wars. Devoured by multi-lateral war, it is the scene of the most appalling human crisis of the day.
Already aflame with dictator Bashar al-Assad’s war against scores of opposition groups that have joined forces to overthrow him and seek a more just and pluralistic system of government, Syria’s strategic importance has led over the last four years to its becoming the stage for a host of other ar…med conflicts, including Russia’s latest confrontation with the West, Saudi Arabia’s power struggle with Iran, Iran’s war on the Sunnis, and Turkey’s war on not only Assad but also on Assad’s opponent, the Kurds, whom the Turkish government considers domestic enemies.
Islamic State and Russia bring new and terrible depth to the Syrian War, with ISIL making war on virtually everyone and Russia attacking everyone but Assad. Meanwhile, Washington is heading a coalition running airstrikes on ISIL in Syria, but which now, with the arrival in the war of Russia, is starting to help bolster Assad’s nationalist opponents, something it was reluctant to do in the past.
There’s a growing sensation that Syria is on the brink of disintegrating entirely in the flames of war and that its people as a whole have been abandoned to their fate.