Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Mogadishu) and Rashida Tlaib*(D-Ramallah) remind us that eight ears ago this weekend the Syrian civil war began.
This is a useful reminder of the rivalry between the Islamists and the old line secular Arabist regimes, of which Assad's is the last.
Anyone else remember the Iran-Iraq War?
When Assad the younger took power earlier in the century, we were among the crowd that thought of him as the 'chinless ophthalmologist'. It was a neo-con thing. We assumed Assad and the Syrian state would not survive the war. Yet here he stands on the cusp of victory.
Not bad for a chinless ophthalmologist.
We must say the man has our grudging respect.
*Our Arabic sources tell us this should be pronounced Talib.
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