Is the Middle East on the verge of a wider conflict?

With the current instability in Syria, the failure of Assad to control the riots, and the increasing criticism from the US, one ponders two questions:

How long can Assad evade civil war? And is the Middle East on the verge of another conflict?

The regime has definitely not learned any lessons from Libya, but seems to be following the Iranian example of mass arrests and killings of unruly citizens in order to keep them under control, unfortunately this strategy does not seem to be working as the situation worsens by the day, and increasing anger continues among the people that had enough of the state of fear they’ve been living under for the last 40 years.

I can say with certainty that when it blows in Syria it won’t just stop there, but it’s going be a long and a nasty war involving more players that seek interest in this corner stone country.

So stay tuned for the latest events because you never know what’s coming!

The problem with this is we don't really know what is going on over there - or the greater purpose and objective behind any of this. I was in the M.E and I saw that things are not what they seem - and since that eye opening experience I cast a wary eye on the information that does get out because there is so much more going on then we are ever going to be told.

Originally posted by LittleBirdSaid
The problem with this is we don't really know what is going on over there - or the greater purpose and objective behind any of this. I was in the M.E and I saw that things are not what they seem - and since that eye opening experience I cast a wary eye on the information that does get out because there is so much more going on then we are ever going to be told.

Thanks for sharing your experience, I agree that there is more information we don't know than what we know.
Would you like to elaborate a bit more about what you saw during your stay.

I served my country (the USA) in a land that denies we were there to this day. A land that still states to the rest of the M.E. it's high displeasure at our activities while hosting us. I participated in events and watched the fairy tale being told about them on the nightly news. I believe we have very little knowledge about what is really going on over there.

I want to add I don't know exactly the what or why behind wikileaks. But I can confirm that I knew some of the information before the "big reveal" of those leaks. Also I found in interesting they sort of outed circumstances in the M.E. concerning the behind the scene feelings of other so called Arab states towards Iran. There is a whole lot of keeping the enemy close in that region of the world. Geographical boundry lines don't mean much to tribal societies. It seems there is an intent to keep the choas going. I wonder what the bigger agenda is - because it has to be more then oil resources.