US and UK suspend non-lethal aid for Syria rebels

So the Arab states were propped up by the Americans and the British following the 1st World War, left to their devices until the 2nd World War and then left again. A couple of decades later, amidst a few revolutions, with more western influence dictating the regions stability - the Arab Spring kicks off, with the population coming out of the woodwork demanding real democracy. Their actions are latched onto by the Islamists looking to invoke Sharia Law, and by Western powers to have some form of presence and support amidst the growing influence of Russia, China and within the next decade or two - the Indian sub-continent.

Somewhere along the lines the locals, the Islamists and Western Powers realise they want the current government overthrown, but soon thereafter their differences come out in what they want the end result to be.

Syria is already is a flashpoint for a Russian backed government battling Western backed rebels, and potentially any other hard-line Islamist state / government / group backed Islamists blending in with the rebels.

I'm not even sure who's playing what game anymore - the west is actively partaking in removing leaders it helped come into power - and has already done so with a few.

The whole region is ed and we are nothing more than mere spectators for whatever end-goal whoever has in mind, provided they actually get what they want.

To think, in about a century and a bit the regions oil reserves will have been depleted and it will be forgotten about - nothing more than a dot in history of leaders coming and going, a populace that never got the opportunity to develop or progress and will have severe bitterness of the powers that sought their own means at their expense.

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The first few statements are off the top of my head so please someone correct me if I went wrong, but thats how I remember the gist of the history of the region.

Sounds like the rebel groups most in line with Western values just got pushed out of one of their bases by more Islamist rebels, who might have grabbed some of their weapons. Essentially, since the groups we support the most lost a minor battle, we'll give them less weapons and equipment, thus decreasing their influence even more, and making it even less likely that the end result of this war will be a government that has any interest in democracy.

God knows we have plenty of reasons for being weary of supporting causes in the middle east, but the more we step away, the more the fight will be between Russian, Chinese, and Iranian backed dictators and Saudi, Al-Quada, and other Sunni extremist backed Islamic fundamentalists.