Middle East SOPs

Writing at The Washington Post, Ishaan Tharoor lists seven problems in the Middle East he believes are worse than Iran's nuclear program. They are

The Syria endgame
The spread of the Islamic State
The war in Yemen
Turkey's renewed civil war
Failing, corrupt governments
The zombie afterlife of the two-state solution
The Egyptian political tragedy

COTTonLINE takes a jaundiced view of Tharoor's reasoning. The only one we believe is more important than Iranian nukes is "The spread of the Islamic State." The balance are examples of business as usual in this benighted region; not good but not new.

MENA is so screwed up a believer could conclude God has cursed the entire region.