The understanding of Syria's devastating civil war has been distorted by the immense danger and difficulty of covering it.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I think Syria is in a particularly sensitive geopolitical position in terms of the politics of the Middle East.
I've often said that the ISIS-Syria-Iraq mess is about as bad as it could be.
We've got a very difficult situation created by this embrace of the so-called Arab Spring. And that's not getting better. It's getting worse. The carnage for the people of Syria is horrific, and it's quite frankly too little, too late to reverse a lot of that.
The Syrian rebels, weakened by infighting, have also been victims of the growing rift between the U.S. and its closest Arab allies.
Both sides in Syria are bad. One side is a brutal dictator, and the other includes Islamists and terrorists who are dangerous already and who would be brutal in power if given the chance.
Moscow and Washington have evolved a delicate process for 'de-confliction' in the tight Syrian airspace, where accidents or miscommunication could be disastrous.
Syria may appear to be a small country, but it is just the type of entangled conflict that can lead to a world catastrophe. It does not take much imagination to see Syria as the Sarajevo of the 21st century, leading to world war.
Just this week, Syria broke off all relations with the United States military and the CIA.
I would not be surprised to see Syria break apart entirely.
I explained that we would like to adjust our position on the Syrian question to theirs, as, in our view, they are the decisive factor in our relations with our neighbors, and Syria is unimportant.