“According to an article at the top of the New York Times website, even a well-executed strategic strike against the nation could aggravate tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia — both nations that seek to dominate the region politically and militarily — and actually have the effect of buoying up Syria’s beleaguered President Bashar al-Assad. Middle East watchers say that the only truly predictable thing about the highly unstable region is that any actions will produce unintended consequences. They warn of a possible Assad-bolstering surge of anti-Americanism or even a spreading of hostilities to other countries in the region, including Turkey and Israel.”
