Quote Originally Posted by TheCurmudgeon View Post
Could a Arab force like the one proposed by Tunisia successfully enforce peace when they themselves would be similarly divided?
Hmmm....I do not speak nor read, Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, Turkish, or Hebrew (which includes Farsi, Russian, Amharic (Ethiopian), and Yiddish) and as a result at least 60% of the ideas which drive this conflict are lost in the translation IMO.

60/40 is an important metric to keep in mind when making plans/bets/assigning probabilities regarding Assad's resilience (reliance upon poor external military advice), the managed growth of West Kurdistan, the reduction in the conveyance capacity of the Iranian supply chain, regional security concerns, and the interests of extra-regional patrons.

Shahnameh, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahnameh

Ferdowsi did not expect his readers to pass over historical events indifferently, but asked them to think carefully, to see the grounds for the rise and fall of individuals and nations; and to learn from the past in order to improve the present, and to better shape the future.

Ferdowsi stresses his belief that since the world is transient, and since everyone is merely a passerby, one is wise to avoid cruelty, lying, avarice, and other evils; instead one should strive for justice, honor, truth, order, and other virtues.

There is a school of thought, by the way, that France's financial overcommitment to the American Revolution was a contributing factor to the French Revolution....