Exit stage left, pursued by a bear.

Fanatics are accused of having closed minds who take everything in scriptures literally even though they were written thousands of years ago during a time when science was in its infancy. But today's policy makers and journalists are no better, even if they have attended top colleges and have traveled the world, seeing different peoples with different cultures and different ways of thinking. Some tribes in Brazil have no use for numbers but have a basic knowledge of geometry. Presumably they do not use money and so have no need for counting but geometry is useful for hunting. They are different but not inferior to us. Americans do not seem to have grasped this concept. In their infantile thinking they have the right to bomb any nation to save it from a dictator but if anyone else does it then they are thugs. Thus, the Iraqis should be grateful for 200,000 killed by US attacks and it was heroic to use white phosphorus on Fallujah in 2004 but Bashar al-Assad must be made to leave because his " forces have used detention, torture, chemical weapons and barrel bombs in their scorched-earth effort to reassert control." One fellow, writing for Bloomberg, is extremely indignant that Russia has bombed terrorists " working with US coordinators based in Jordan and Turkey." He does not call them terrorists but " local militias " who are " defending their areas from the depredations of Assad's war machine." Language is such a wonderful thing. Problem is that President Erdogan of Turkey has been actively supporting terrorist groups and has started bombing Kurds, who are the only group which has had some success against ISIS, because he wants to divide the opposition. Not much different from Assad. The Hezbollah of Lebanon has been fighting for Assad for years but Iranian troops have arrived to join in the fight. Russia is providing air cover for the Shia coalition of Alawis, Hezbollah and Iranian troops. While the US trained Iraqi troops run away from the ISIS, much like US troops fled in total panic from Saigon, Shia militias have been fighting the ISIS in Iraq. But they have refused US air support in Iraq while accepting Russian air cover in Syria. Iran is much stronger ever since the Senate could not muster two thirds majority to override Obama's veto of any resolution rejecting the nuclear deal. Having spent his political capital in pushing for the deal Obama has to watch quietly as Iran takes charge, with Russian help. Will the Kurds team up with Iran, will Arab states send arms to ISIS, will the Kurds be slaughtered by both Turkey and ISIS, will Israel and Arabs use this excuse to bomb Iran's nuclear installations, precipitating an all out war in the middle east, we do not know? Perhaps as Obama leaves office as Commander-in-Chief next year he will see the Russian Bear much more resurgent.