A Grim Portrayal of Syria at War

by Amir Taheri  •  September 3, 2017 at 4:00 am

The Assad terror machine in Syria has been broken and, even with Russian and Iranian support, cannot be restored to its previous strength. Pictured: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is greeted in Moscow by Russian President Vladimir Putin, October 20, 2015.

The blurb of Destroying a Nation: The Civil War in Syria presents the author, Nikolas Van Dam, as an experienced Dutch diplomat with a direct knowledge of the Middle East.

Having served as Holland's Ambassador to Egypt, Turkey and Iraq, Van Dam also had a stint (in 2015-16) as his country's Special Envoy for Syria. In that last assignment Van Dam monitored the situation from a base in neighboring Turkey.

Van Dam's diplomatic background is clear throughout his book as he desperately tries, not always with success, to be fair to "all sides" which means taking no sides, while weaving arguments around the old cliché of "the only way out is through dialogue".

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