CZAR VLADIMIR 1^st IS GROWLING
(…making like an old Soviet bear wearing red underwear)

On the eve of a Big Eight summit conference Russia’s President Putin has bluntly warned everyone not to even think about providing arms to the Syrian opposition fighting the Assad regime…which he supports…or face undesirable consequences, etc., etc., etc.. Yes, Czar Vladimir 1^st is growling like an old Soviet bear wearing red underwear, to scare anyone who might screw up whatever game plan he has there. Why he should put Russia’s delicate and tenuous relationships with the European community and the US at risk, by continuing to back a completely discredited mob like the Assads is difficult to understand.

The crux of his position seems based on two things: First, that the Assad regime is still the “legitimate” government of Syria, and, those in rebellion against it are just factions of suspect motivations and intentions. Second, the flow of arms he continues to send to it is due to previously made contract obligations, and contracts have to be honored.

This raises several interesting questions: In the first instance, he does have a point, because  these are the same concerns shared by those considering whether to intervene into that fracas or not. As to his second reason, his rationale for it is dubious. How is the Assad regime paying for all that military hardware contracted for delivery…with Iranian gold? It’s doubtful it could otherwise pay for it from its own resources. Well, conceivably it might be able to do so from whatever reserves it may have accumulated over the past forty years from its Beka’a Valley’s opium poppy productions. Still, after almost three years of conflict, such reserves must be depleted by now, not to mention the disruption the conflict must have had on any ongoing production of that commodity.

The byzantine convolutions of conflicting interests about Syria are as murky as they come. One thing is quite clear, however, the basis for supporting one party or another in that conflict depends upon which side of the great Shia-Sunni divide in the Muslim world one cares to be. It’s sectarianism on steroids…a fourteen hundred year old feud that makes the one between the Martins and the Coys resemble a sandbox squabble among children.

Even so, there are hints of more enlightened breezes coming on. In Afghanistan, the Taliban are making nice claiming they’re willing to talk about peace. In Iran, a less rigidly theocratic voice may be replacing the rancid rants of Achmedinijad, while in Egypt, the ruling Brotherhood has severed its diplomatic ties with the Assads in support of the Syrian opposition.

So stay tuned, folks, the Fat Lady may be singing her last encore in this melodrama.

CENTURION