Expect trouble and higher oil prices too. The "good guys" are being pushed aside by Islamists in Syria, just as in Egypt. Al Qaeda and now Hamas have taken the rebels' side.
They used to be on
the other side. They see regime change coming soon and they want to help. Hamas until recently kept its headquarters in Damascus and before that, Al Qaeda in Iraq found support in Syria.
Leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas turned publicly against their long-time ally President Bashar Assad of Syria on Friday, endorsing the revolt aimed at overthrowing his dynastic rule.
and this:
In an eight-minute video clip titled "Onward, Lions of Syria" disseminated on the internet February 11th, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's successor, called on militants "to rise up and support their brothers in Syria".
Pushing against Iran explains a lot. Both groups are Sunni, not Shiite (Iranian islam). The Arab nations see Israel as a potential ally to rein in Iranian expansionism and Syria is the client state that allowed Iran to meddle against Israel using Hamas (Sunni) from Gaza and Hizbollah (Shiite) through Syria's partial control of Lebanon to the north. Arab nations have been
boosting arm purchases with Iran in mind.
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| Hamas’s prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, greeted supporters after Friday Prayer, where he had spoken out against President Bashar al-Assad. |
Syria is like a fulcrum in the larger power struggle and it will affect us. The recent heated up talk of war with Iran usually
mentions the date of the US election. Remember when Obama was making nice to the mullahs while the Revolutionary Guard was shooting political protestors in Iran? Back then it was easier to make a course correction.
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