MIDEAST EXPLOSIONS – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  There is almost an exhaustion about reporting on the Mideast.  So much is happening in so many places.  Oh, by the way, did any of the Middle East "experts" you see on TV predict this?  I wonder why not.

This morning we read about further violence in Syria, one of the key Arab countries, and far more important in the Arab equation that Libya.  From Fox:

Security troops stormed a protest sit-in near the capital Damascus, arresting about 200 people in the midnight raid, activists said Saturday, the latest violence in the unrelenting crackdown on protests that have spread to this Mideast country.

The activists said up to 4,000 people were demonstrating in the town of Douma on the outskirts of Damascus when, around midnight Friday, electricity was cut and the protesters came under attack. The activists spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals.

They said troops attacked the protesters with sticks and clubs, injuring several, but those reports could not be independently confirmed. An eyewitness who drove to Douma Saturday said there were no traces of a fight in the area and shops were open.

As calm returned to Syrian cities Saturday, a human rights activist said authorities released 70 political prisoners. The release was an apparent effort to appease the protesters and contain the fallout from a deadly crackdown on demonstrations that have gripped Syria for a week. Groups of detainees have been released earlier in the week as well.

COMMENT:  Please note that Saudi Arabia, another key country, contained its protests.  The Syrian regime is known for its harshness, and I'd expect that it will do anything necessary to put down the revolt.  And, the way things are in international politics, the "realists" will be back in Damascus negotiating with the Syrians two weeks later, as if nothing had happened. 

Recall that Bush 41 sent super-realist adviser Brent Scowcroft to Beijing only months after the Tiananmen Square riots, and it was business as usual.  Didn't get us very far.  It's been my experience that the "realists" are often the most unrealistic people in town.

March 26, 2011