Type the word ‘Syria’ into The Slog’s search engine, and you will find a long series of articles bewailing the knee-jerk desire of Britain to do America’s will, alongside a minute level of belief in the ‘Bashar Assad chemical weapons atrocity’ that Obama and Cameron tried to use as the “reason” for invading that country.

The mind boggles at the mess we would be in now had Gung-ho Dave been given his Commons pro-War vote. The recent success of Islamic Front, a Saudi-backed Sunni jihadi group, against the largely Sunni Free Syrian Army (FSA), has turned the entire situation into a complicated stand-off.

This FSA’s rivals – the Syrian National Coalition – are the mob that the Special Relationship wanted to back…along with (loosely somewhere in there) the also Sunni Muslim Brotherhood; but their crude attempts to drag the US/UK axis into an invasion having failed, they are now discredited and in disarray. The remaining FSA fighters are in flight, have changed sides, or are devoting all their efforts to surviving the onslaught from jihadi or al-Qa’ida-linked brigades. Meanwhile, the Assad regime presented to us for months on end as “crumbling” is still there. Yes, things are that clear.

The Syrian ‘crisis’ was only ever about two things: Major Power energy geopolitics, and yet another squabble between the variously murderous factions of Islam. There are four shards of Sunnis, two of Shi-ites, and one pro plus one anti Assad group of Alawites. Broadly, Russia backs Assad’s Alawites and the pro-Iranian Shi’ites, while “we” went with the “more moderate” Sunnis typified by the Muslim Brotherhood. But the more bonkers Sunnis were backed strongly by the Saudis. As a result of US energy obsession and Camerlot glory-hunting, we came perilously close to being on the losing side in a draw. That would’ve been some achievement….but little more than a further sign that neither the State Deparment nor our FCO know WTF they’re at.

I must confess to having been, earlier in the year, both disgusted and alarmed at the naively cynical way in which the Special Relationship was prepared to back the Brotherhood in both Egypt and Syria on the grounds that we could “do business” with them. There is no doing business with radical Islam, and there is no such thing as moderate radical Islam. Knowledge about and understanding of Islamic reality remains utterly pitiful among foreign policymakers in the West.

Shiite, for example, means – literally – followers of the faction. Near the town of Medina, the prophet Muhammed gave a sermon appointing his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, as his successor. But other factions – even all that time ago, there were loads of factions – kept Ali out of power for some time, not entirely peacefully. Once in control, Ali lasted just five years, at which point he was assassinated.  His sons fought for the succession, but they were all killed in battle. Despite being roundly drubbed, however, Ali’s faction -“Shiat Ali” in Arabic – kept the faith and became The Shiites.

Just as Henry VIII’s desire for a son formed the Church of England – founded on zero credible theological bases – so too the Shiites are there because the Prophet only had a son-in-law, rather than a son. Religion had nothing to do with it….and Islam is not, on the whole, a religion based on peaceful principles.

The only thing all Muslim sects are united by is their undiluted belief that Christians are infidels, and Jews somehow even worse.

Eighteen months ago, The Slog posted about how and why Syria could become a 1914 Sarajevo moment. It very nearly did: indeed, only a Tory rebellion prevented us going in with The Obamites. That rebellion in turn was triggered by concerned – and concerted – peace protesters emailing Tory MPs to ask, more or less, “What are you on?”

The episode teaches us (again) two things: we The People have all the common sense on offer in Britain – not the elites. And the Internet is for Opposition. It remains an Opposition far more capable of being effective (and acting in our interests) than the Ed Miller Band of Hope.

Related post: the odd behaviour of veteran Slog enemy Ben Bradshaw