Who even knows what to call it? The Iraq War or the Iraq-Syrian War would be far too orderly for what\u2019s happening, so it remains a no-name conflict that couldn\u2019t be deadlier or more destabilizing \u2014 and it\u2019s in the process of internationalizing in unsettling ways. Think of it as the strangest disaster on the planet right now.<\/p>\n
After all, when was the last time that the U.S. and\u00a0Russia<\/a>\u00a0ended up on the same side in a conflict? You would have to go back almost three quarters of a century to World War II to answer that one. And how about the U.S. and Iran? Now, it seems that all three of those countries are sending in military hardware and, in the case of the\u00a0U.S.<\/a>\u00a0andIran<\/a>,\u00a0drones<\/a>, advisers, pilots, and possibly other personnel.<\/p>\n Since World War I<\/a>, the region that became Iraq and Syria has been a magnet for the meddling of outside powers of every sort, each of which, including France and Britain, the Clinton administration with its brutal sanctions, and the Bush administration with its disastrous invasion and occupation, helped set the stage for the full-scale destabilization and sectarian disintegration of both countries. And now the outsiders are at it again.<\/p>\n The U.S., Russia, and Iran only start the list. The Saudis, to give an example, have reportedly been\u00a0deeply involved<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0funding<\/a>\u00a0the rise of the al-Qaeda-style extremist movement the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Now, facing that movement\u2019s success \u2014 some of its armed followers, including undoubtedly\u00a0Saudi nationals<\/a>, have already reached the Iraqi-Saudi frontier \u2014 the Saudis are reportedly moving\u00a030,000 troops<\/a>\u00a0there, no doubt in fear that their fragile and autocratic land might someday be open to the very violence their petrodollars have stoked. Turkey, which has wielded an open-border\/safe haven policy to support the Syrian rebels fighting the Bashar al-Assad regime, including ISIS and other extremist outfits, is now dealing withkidnapped nationals<\/a>\u00a0and chaos on its border, thanks to those same rebels. Israel entered the fray recently as well, launching airstrikes against nine Syrian \u201cmilitary targets<\/a>,\u201d and just to add to the violence and confusion, Assad\u2019s planes and helicopters have been\u00a0attacking<\/a>\u00a0ISIS forces across the now-nonexistent border in Iraq. And I haven\u2019t even mentioned Hezbollah, the Jordanians, or the Europeans, all of whom are involved in their own ways.<\/p>\n