Editor says, what if the Syrian Civil War was terminated by Western Powers? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the July 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.

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Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-24 22:53:48 ~ Unfortuately the Syrian elite appears larger that president Assad's immediarte circle. This would be liekly to have the most negative effect on US and EEC foreign policy in the Middle East. The idea of a One Stste Solution for Israel and Palestine - which is apparantly what lies behind all this 0 is a positively disasterous idea. Oh one other point - it isn't a "Syrian Civil War" since this was planned in Western capitals If the Sunni jihadists cut loose against the other religious groups and seculars you could have 100,000s of thousands dead which is what people are warning about.

Jared Myers commented on 2012-06-24 23:12:11 ~ Don't think Russia, China, or at least Iran would stand at the sidelines doing nothing. And thus (potentially) begins WWIII.

Eric Oppen commented on 2012-06-25 00:16:46 ~ Or "You broke it, you bought it!" We've got enough on our plates with Iraq and the Stan.

Eric Lipps commented on 2012-06-25 00:26:34 ~ I don't think the "one state solution" is "behind" anything; the "two-state solution" is a much mre influential notion. The only people seriously pushing for "one state" are right-wing Israelis (guess whose state gets to be the "one"?), who argue that, one, the Palestinians don't exist as a people, and two, this nonexistent people already has a state in Jordan and should be resettled there, forcibly if necessary.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-25 00:48:52 ~ Believe me, Eric, the right-wing Israelis want nothing to do with a one-state solution, which would soon become the Palestinians' state, due to their high birth rates. A two-state solution is much more popular, despite its own serious problems...most notably Jerusalem.

Jeff Provine commented on 2012-06-25 14:50:44 ~ Would it be followed by occupation and transition or outright chaos, possibly civil war? The former is expensive, the second is a nightmare.

Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-26 01:06:09 ~ Unfortuantely both the Neo-Cons and influential members of Obama's regime from the Brookings Institute believe in just that . The One State solution is that the Palestinians get pushed out and Israel covers the whole of the former British Mandate. To do that you need to destabilise and break up Syria. This showshow insane these policies are.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-26 12:02:29 ~ Richard, I know that nowadays "Neo-Cons"is often a euphemism for "Jews"...and while I have read a lot of anti-Zionism and outright Jew baiting on Internet debates, I have NEVER even run across that theory. I have, however, read plenty of pro-Palestinian messages calling for one state, of Israelis and Palestinians together...secure in the knowledge that the high Palestinian birthrate would soon make the state Palestinian. And I might add that the high birthrate is aided by the wonderful free maternity care at Hadassah Hospital, which is supported by Hadassah, the American women's Zionist organiztion.

Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-26 12:10:07 ~ I'm sorry but the Neo-Cons are a seperate group from AIPAC in America of "policy-makers" as they see it. The whole point is that it is entirely different from the other "One State Solution2" being put forward by some Palestinian supporters. Apparantly this scheme was launched as a plan in 2002 by the Neo-Cons.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-26 16:45:18 ~ Well, as I said before, this is absolutely the first I have heard of it, and it sounds like a completely wild conspiracy theory to me. I might add that it would be especially hard to push the Palestinians out, since I don't know of many Arab countries that are very eager to take them in. However, I have come to believe that there will be a Palestinian state of some kind, due to an incident I heard in a local chain diner, where the waiter proudly said, "I am a Palestinian." That is what most of us hope for.

Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-26 19:37:16 ~ The neo-Cons and their allies associated with the Democrat party are at the heart of the American policy making Power-elite as it is referred to.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-26 20:34:48 ~ "Neo-con" is obviously short for "neo-conservative," strongly suggesting that they are Republicans...or, more specifically, Jews who feel newly driven to the Republican Party, since the Democrats seem to be turning against them. However, I thought we were here to discuss Alternate History...not to share wild theories of current events.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-26 21:02:11 ~ OK...so how's this for a hopeful and helpful scenario. After grueling conferences together, the Jews and Arabs agree on declaring The United States of Abrahamia, consisting of the two independent states of Israel and Palestine. Of course, this might wind up in another Civil War, like our own...but then again, it might not.

Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-26 22:10:27 ~ You are correct, but someone suggested this AH. Howeverthey are not newly driven to the Repubican party nor were the Democrats turning on them. In fact the opposite, Obama has continued neo-Con policies. However unfortunately these are not wild theories.

Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-26 22:13:36 ~ Iwoild really hope something like that could happen but I fear it is unlikely.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-26 22:40:54 ~ Well, I can only say again that I have never heard that particular theory before...and that Israel's friends have become very suspicious of Obama's Middle Eastern policies. The Republicans know it, too...and they are falling all over themselves to support Israel. For instance, as Romney graphically put it, "Obama is throwing Israel under the bus."

Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-26 23:25:22 ~ els' friends are becoming very suspicious of Obama's policies as his policies could not be more so and policy on the Middle East in his administration are controlled by such people. Obama and his pro-Zionist advisoes are DRIVING the bus, hence the destabilisation of the Arab nations. All it shows is what nonsense Romney says.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-26 23:34:45 ~ Well, if you go to the MSNBC discussion sites, you will soon see that Obama's supporters seem to support the Palestinians, while Romney's followers are on Israel's side. In fact, I have heard that the Evangelical Christians are much stronger supporters of Israel than the American Jews are. If you say that's pretty weird, I will not have any argument. But then, having the American left supporting the feudal Arabs against the socialist Israelis is pretty weird, too.

Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-26 23:56:48 ~ Obama is not the American Left. The American left do not support the feudal Arab states, who are totally Obama's allies to destabilse Syria and the republican Arab states, exactly for this reason. It is not obama and hispolicy makers that support the PALESTINIANS ONLY DEMOCRAT VOTERS WHO HAVE NO-ONE ELSE TO VOTE FOR. Obama has a remarkable talent to do just the opposite of what liberla Democrat voterswould want.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-27 01:23:09 ~ I admit I am always startled to read about the "right wing" supporting Israel while the left champions the Palestinians. And believe me, it was not always that way. The left used to LOVE Israel, because it was the only socialist country that WORKED. Then came the Six-Day War, in 1967, when the Soviet Union turned against Israel, so the rest of the left had to do the same. As evidence, look for an openly Zionist 1960 movie called Exodus...with the script written by a Communist named Dalton Trumbo. But then, the left was ANTI gay back then, too...just remember "Spartacus," written by another leftist named Howard Fast, and "Advise and Consent," by the conservative Allen Drury. Then tell me which one was anti-gay and which was sympathetic to them.

Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-27 10:44:41 ~ It would not be true that "the Left" supports the Palestinians because as explained by JustinRaimondo od antiwar.com foreign policy in America has been bipartisan since 1948 and policymakers of the Obama-Clinton regime entirely support Zionism and its objective of a Single State solution every bit as much as the Neo-Cons. It would be untrue that the Soviet Union "dumped" Israel because of the 6 Day War so the rst of the Left fell into line. Israel was a social-democrat and not a socialist state. This is unlikely to work and is a remarkable foolish foreign policy.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-27 13:39:39 ~ I checked out antiwar.com, and...surprise surprise!...they were anti-Israel, with the usual one-sided moaning about Palestinian "kids," who usually turn out to be teenagers. I did not have to check out the Soviet Union, the Six-Day War and the American left's 180-degree turn against Israel, because I remember it happening. And if Israel is a social-democratic state, that still puts them ahead of the feudal Arab countries.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-27 13:49:20 ~ Reading further, I remembered seeing that, sure enough, those Palestinian "kids" throwing stones were actually teenagers using slings to throw rocks which are projectile weapons. And you BET the Israeli soldiers were armed to the teeth: soldiers usually are. The whole thing was typical one-sided pro-Palestinian agitprop. It is true, however, that Americans did tend to support Israel after the 1948 war until the Six-Day War came along. Those who did not were usually real Jew baiters...and believe you me, they still show up in MSNBC discussion groups...at times even arguing that the Jews Killed Jesus.

Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-27 14:31:53 ~ You seem very vitrilic about it. Unfortunately Obama and Democrat policymakers associated with him could not be more pro-israli, but also have succeeded in forming an alliance with with the Arab feudal and fundamentalist states against the nationalist secular ones.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-27 14:53:31 ~ Well, RR, I am getting pretty exasperated, I admit...especially since I am used to going on line and arguing against those real Jew baiters, although I do not believe that you are in that category. And I really, honestly had never heard of that all-Israeli one-state solution. But I did not mean to be vitriolic: Sorry about that. At the same time, I thought this was supposed to be Alternate History, often more pleasant than our own..like, for instance, the conference that formed the United States of Abrahamia. Because, who knows? Maybe our fresh and innovative concepts could really get picked up. Goodness knows the world could use them.

Andrew Beane commented on 2012-06-27 16:10:19 ~ Afghanistan would turn into another '90s Afghanistan...with more trees

Richard Roper commented on 2012-06-27 17:38:24 ~ That's what everyone who knows anything is worried about. And flight of christians and other religious groups.

Jackie Rose commented on 2012-06-27 18:10:25 ~ From what I read recently, in Richard Engel's MSNBC report, the flight of Christians from Egypt has already begun.