Safe or UNsafe Zone?

Another chemical attack on the most geographically unfortunate people in the world and this time not just a threat, but an actual attack by the U.S. on Syria. Well, not so much an attack but bombs dropped on Syria to protect it. Or was it in retaliation? Where they were dropped was ostensibly the origin of the chemical attacks, but it is also a Russian military post that has grown in importance recently. But since Russia can't admit to beefing up military presence to protect its interests in Syria, this attack can't technically be called an attack on Russia. But don't kid yourself, both the U.S. and Russia know what's going on here. My question is, does the president? Or is he just some buffoon who wants to build Trump Towers and golf courses in a Syrian safe/no fly zone that will make him rich, but cost the American tax payers a billion a month?

First, let me remind you all of the situation. The government of Syria is a minority telling the majority what to do. Some believe it was purposely set up this way to create war and weaken the country. The religious tension between Shia, Sunni, Alawite and what have you, is not really the main issue in Syria, however. It's just what keeps them fighting and drives the real estate prices down. Syria is much more significant because of oil and natural gas pipelines. I will refer you to a very well written article from the past when Obama was THINKING about doing what Trump just did.

We know what Trump wants to do in Syria. He's talked about it before in his exceedingly non-presidential patois. He wants to "do" a, "big, beautiful safe zone" in Syria. In fact he said exactly this:

"What I like is build a safe zone in Syria. Build a big, beautiful safe zone and you have whatever it is so people can live, and they'll be happier. So you keep 'em in Syria. You build a tremendous safe zone. It'll cost you tremendously much less, and they'll all be there and the weather's the same. And the weather is the same and then when this horrible situation that is so horrible run. We don't know what we are doing. When it's all over they move back and they go back into their cities, and they rebuild there, (or their?), cities. And they start out and they start over again."

He's pretty sure the U.S. will be able to buy a "swatch" of land, and, says Middle East master Trump, "Believe me, you get it for the right price, okay? You take a big swatch and you don't destroy all of Europe."

Trump says he has a(n?) HUGE heart. He cares for these people and doesn't want them to learn new languages. He doesn't want them to go to new climates like in Minnesota where they'd freeze. He doesn't want them to disrupt the good people of Europe. He just doesn't want them... to...

Okay, all fun aside, in context, this bombing was an attack on Russia whether the president was complicit or just an agreeable dolt. The Russians will not stand for the safe zone because it will likely be a strip of land that can be used to connect Turkey to the very valuable Israel/Jordan stores of oil and natural gas, IF that "right price" Trump mentioned includes pipeline building rights. This will allow the massive natural gas deposits in the Mediterranean to be sold in Europe, weakening the stranglehold Gazprom has had for so long. Gazprom, that Russian company that was at one time the richest company in the world. That little company in which Putin owns stock. Billions of dollars worth of stock.

There are all kinds of other scenarios with oil and natural gas that make the "rolling back" of Syria through civil war a very profitable industry for the nations like the U.S. and Russia who, I'll just hazard a guess, aren't quite as saddened and upset as they are letting on.

Still, I wonder if we'll ever find out if Trump knows about all of this or whether he's just being played like a fiddle. This will be interesting to watch.

In the mean time, safe zones don't work. They didn't work in Iraq or Bosnia, it probably won't work in Syria. Any attempt to set up a safe zone will more accurately be a "pipeline safe zone," and it won't be very safe. There will almost certainly be resistance from Russia. Possibly even other countries such as China.

But I guess all we can do is watch...


Here's a couple of oil pipelines that Russian and the U.S. need to build through Syria:

Here's one of the proposed natural gas pipelines. You see how key Syria is.