Eh, they were the civilized world before we were the civilized world before they were the civilized world. As far as civilized goes, it ain't all it's cracked up to be. It was the learning of the Arabs and Eastern Roman Empire making its way into Europe that pulled us out of the Dark Ages. As far as fighting, we've been killing each other a species since our beginning, so that's nothing special to the Arabs. It's true that area has been fought over for millennia, but that is also because of its location. That is the crossroads of where Asia, Africa, and Europe meet. Ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Hittites, Scythians, Phoenicians, Syrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and Christian Europe fought over this area and still does. It crazy really.
Yes too many people think they have all the answers when it comes to Syria. The fact is they do not and it has shown over the past few years and decades. I think this is going to get much worse before it gets better but so far I do not see the seven seals being opened.
We'll see how things develop over there. Syria is so messed up it's crazy. There are more factions over there and none of them are really on our side. The one that I think is the best, the Kurds, are the antithesis of what our ally Turkey wants. So in an area of hard problems this has developed into an even more difficult one.
No, me either on the hope thing. People have become too entrenched on their positions. We need something that allows people to have some flexibility. The pitiful part of this equation is that people are over there dying while world leaders play their games of power politics.
White House warns of potential US 'red line' over Syria barrel bomb attacks:
The Trump administration has signalled much broader grounds for future military intervention in Syria, suggesting it might retaliate against the Syria government for barrel bomb attacks. Ref. Source 3b.