Muddle East

I attended a fascinating presentation this morning by Johan Raath, former special forces soldier and military contractor in Iraq. He spent 15 years in the country and spoke with some authority on his topic. He made the point upfront that his work was defensive and that he had been there to protect civilian contractors trying to rebuild Iraq mostly with American money. All sounded quite grim being under constant threat of attack and with the prospect of sudden death or mutilation ever present.  Added to summer temperatures touching 60C.  Someone asked him the obvious question about his prognosis for the future of the region and he said he couldn't see any positive outcomes.  No doubt more about this in his aptly named book which I bought but have yet to read: Blood Money