four years after the start of the Arab Spring, the new Middle East looks more and more like the old one—only worse.

SMART DIPLOMACY ALERT

From the Wall Street Journal

While U.S. airstrikes have put Islamic State forces on the defensive in Iraq, they haven’t had the same effect in Syria. Our story looks at why military action by the U.S. has not stopped Islamic State militants from expanding their control in Syria and considers the implications of this failure. We note that some administration officials have been pushing America to focus more attention on Syria, but powerful voices oppose any idea that would drag the U.S. military deeper into a country where few see options that will improve the situation. However, the “Iraq-first” strategy is likely to be questioned in the coming weeks when the new Republican-controlled Congress holds hearings on the president’s game plan in the Middle East. Meanwhile, we report that the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State is coming under growing criticism in Iraq, complicating the mission as Washington ramps up its forces in the country. And we look at the wider region, noting that four years after the start of the Arab Spring, the new Middle East looks more and more like the old one—only worse.

Before we deployed Barack Hussein Obama's SMART DIPLOMACY in the Middle East as the Arab Spring unfolded the area was controlled by a few long time dictators and Arab "royalty" who were content to not cause trouble.  Today, after deaths counted in the hundreds of thousands, crazies are roaming the sands forests bringing back the 7th century and importing it into a Western world which though it left that all behind centuries ago.

Well, (as Glenn Reynolds often notes) this is the 21sc Century, you know.