“Donkeys are adapted to marginal desert lands. They need less food than horses. Overfed donkeys suffer from a disease called Laminitis (inflammation of the hoof). Donkey fur is not waterproof, and so should have shelter especially when it rains. Wild donkeys live separated from each other, unlike tight wild horse herds. Donkeys have developed very loud voices, which can be heard for close to 2 miles (over 3 kilometers). Donkeys have large ears to hear the distant calls of fellow donkeys, and to help cool the donkey’s blood. Donkeys’ tough digestive system can break down inedible vegetation and extract moisture from food more efficiently. Donkeys can defend themselves with a powerful kick of their hind legs. It is believed that the ancestor of the modern donkey is the Nubian subspecies of the African Wild Ass which was domesticated around 4,000 B.C. The donkey became an important pack animal for people living in the Egyptian and Nubian regions as they can easily carry 20% to 30% of their own body weight and can also be used as a farming and dairy animal. By 1800 B.C., the ass had reached the Middle East where the trading city of Damascus was referred to as the “City of Asses” in ancient texts………….”

I have posted on this once before, but the time is more appropriate now to highlight it. Damascus is still the “city of asses”, more so than ever: the four-legged and the two-legged kind. And I mean on both sides of this bloody civil war. Whether it is the secular Baathist or fundamentalist Salafi. Whether the so-called regime Shabieha or Jabhat al-Nusrah or or Al-Qaeda or Jabhat al-Hameer wal Tiouss. Or the sectarian kidnappers of the FSA. Whether supported by Russia and Iran or supported by the democratic elected shaikhs of Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the world Salafi movement.
Some years ago, I used to think that Beirut was a city of asses (I know what some of you’re thinking: no, not only that kind). That was during their civil war. Now it is Syria. Speaking of jackasses: they rule all over the Middle East and I can……. oh, well, I think I’ll leave that one to another post soon.

Cheers
mhg