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Putting pen to paper is to believe one has something of value to impart. To write about something as monumental as what is going on in Iraq in normal language takes arrogance. The pain of others makes for good copy. Amazingly, those responsible for the slaughter still hold their heads up and continue to voice their opinions. The Cheneys, Kagans, Kristols, Blairs, and Saudis—all in cahoots with the Netanyahus of this world—shamefully showcase themselves on TV and in the press. Two trillion dollars after Uncle Sam tried nation building, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of dead and millions displaced, the very same people who brought down Saddam and went after Assad are still showboating. Is there no shame left, no divine punishment? How did it come to this? We need to ally ourselves with Iran, distance ourselves from Likud, and tell the Saudis, who are financing ISIS along with the Qataris, to cease payments or else, and then we might just see some light at the end of a very black tunnel. We armed the Taliban against the Soviets and then had to fight them twenty years later; we armed the Sunnis against Saddam and Assad and now we have to fight them from the air only. What I’d like to know is how come I knew all this years ago and wrote about it in these here pages, while Hague was out giving speeches against Assad? As Maurice Glasman wrote, “we should be pro-Iran, pro-Kurds, and pro-Christian.” This is a battle for civilization.

I write this on my birthday, which I will celebrate with a dinner tonight with the Greek royals and other close friends. But it’s with a heavy heart. My oldest friend Aleko Goulandris cannot make it due to illness, and with the rest of the world in such a mess, even Taki cannot drink enough to make reality go away.