Friday, May 26, 2017
Racquetball at 5, work all day, which was slow. I read The Morning They Came For Us, Dispatches From Syria by Janine Di Giovanni, a firsthand account from the Syrian Civil War. It's another example of the horrors of war. How many do we need to get the message that war is evil and never a good thing ever. The country won't recover in our lifetime. Many in the next generation or two. It's easy to look back and see how inevitable the destruction was going to be, given the single-minded dictatorial ruthlessness of Bashar al Assad, who more than any other person is responsible for the destruction of Syria. No one was going to pull him from power and his army and resources (Iran, Hezbollah, Russia) were ultimately no match for the so-called Free Syria Army. The other problem was the infiltration of foreign jihadist fighters intent on turning Syria into a religious state. So many citizens were stuck in the middle in a no-win situation that ultimately uprooted their way of life. It's really tragic reading these stories, knowing the Syria of the guidebook I've been reading no longer exists, including Aleppo's once famous souks, the world's best example of old world Middle East markets before they were destroy.
Came home at 5 and started cleaning out my garage in preparation for a termite spray next week. So many boxes I don't need but can't seem to get rid of.
Later in the evening, I came across the Washington Post story of Jared Kushner's secret meeting with Russian Ambassador Kislyak on December 1 to discuss creating a secret communication channel to the Kremlin that was undetectable by US security. It sounds like a big story and is almost certainly something that was ordered by Trump himself. We'll see how this story develops. Trump can't have Kushner banished from the White House, and yet I suspect Kushner will be under intense scrutiny and pressure to have his security clearance revoked. He's in trouble. The entire White House is in trouble.
Racquetball at 5, work all day, which was slow. I read The Morning They Came For Us, Dispatches From Syria by Janine Di Giovanni, a firsthand account from the Syrian Civil War. It's another example of the horrors of war. How many do we need to get the message that war is evil and never a good thing ever. The country won't recover in our lifetime. Many in the next generation or two. It's easy to look back and see how inevitable the destruction was going to be, given the single-minded dictatorial ruthlessness of Bashar al Assad, who more than any other person is responsible for the destruction of Syria. No one was going to pull him from power and his army and resources (Iran, Hezbollah, Russia) were ultimately no match for the so-called Free Syria Army. The other problem was the infiltration of foreign jihadist fighters intent on turning Syria into a religious state. So many citizens were stuck in the middle in a no-win situation that ultimately uprooted their way of life. It's really tragic reading these stories, knowing the Syria of the guidebook I've been reading no longer exists, including Aleppo's once famous souks, the world's best example of old world Middle East markets before they were destroy.
Came home at 5 and started cleaning out my garage in preparation for a termite spray next week. So many boxes I don't need but can't seem to get rid of.
Later in the evening, I came across the Washington Post story of Jared Kushner's secret meeting with Russian Ambassador Kislyak on December 1 to discuss creating a secret communication channel to the Kremlin that was undetectable by US security. It sounds like a big story and is almost certainly something that was ordered by Trump himself. We'll see how this story develops. Trump can't have Kushner banished from the White House, and yet I suspect Kushner will be under intense scrutiny and pressure to have his security clearance revoked. He's in trouble. The entire White House is in trouble.
No comments:
Post a Comment