Everything happening there was both predictable and predicted: a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, increasing sectarianism and ethnic segregation, the polarization of extremes and the silencing of moderates, de-stabilization of neighboring countries, infiltration by terrorist groups, and a bloodbath from which the country could take decades to recover. Syrian opposition groups beg for the kinds of weapons needed to fight President Bashar al-Assad’s planes, defend hard-won territory, provide safety for civilians, and signal to Assad that the world will not stand by as he does whatever it takes to subdue his own people.
比如叙利亚。那里发生的所有事情都是可预测的，而且也被预测到了：沙特和伊朗之间的代理战争、日渐滋长的宗派主义和种族隔离、极端主义的两极分化和温和派的沉默、周边邻国的动荡、恐怖组织的渗透，还有需要几十年时间才可能恢复过来的大流血。