Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and President Barack Obama shake hands for the cameras before the start of a bilateral meeting at United Nations headquarters Monday. (Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
Re: “Obama, Putin clash over crisis in Syria,” Sept. 29 news story.
Regarding the meeting between Vladimir Putin and President Obama at the United Nations, I would say this is perhaps the first time I have agreed with Putin.
We have made the mistake of disregarding the tribal nature of the Middle East. Our mistakes there are two: First, the European colonial powers drew arbitrary boundaries, without much regard to religious and ethnic differences. Second, we believed the war in Iraq, followed by the Arab Spring, would bring about democracies. Instead, the Shiites in Iraq were not so much interested in getting rid of the dictator Saddam Hussein as in getting their own dictator in. The same tribalism exists in Libya and Syria. Every other group wants their own dictator in power, and the Islamic State wants to control all of the Mideast.
It seems the only way to keep the lid on that pressure cooker is to have a dictator strong enough to suppress dissent, yet without ambitions on his neighbors — or, alternatively, completely redraw national boundaries. But the latter seems impossible at this stage.
Richard Postma Sr., Littleton
This letter was published in the Oct. 2 edition.
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