Quote Originally Posted by The Bedlington Terrier View Post
...a picture tells a thousand words!
But still doesn't always show the whole truth; I'm sure if those Syrian farmers were externally bankrolled to cover the cost of similar irrigation systems, they too could produce equally good crops and whilst for the most part Syria's a harsh and arid desert, there's some fantastic farmland in the NW of the country.
We were fortunate to spend a month in Syria at the begining of 2011 - we'd left only a few weeks before the bullets began flying! - and have to say that it's one of the most attractive, interesting and above all friendly countries that we've ever visited; assuming that either ISIL or the Assad family and their cronies (it really is difficult to decide which're the worst!) are reflective of the population as a whole is similar judging all Americans on the standards/antics of the Trump/Clinton/Bush cabals. Syria's overwhelmingly populated by a load of relatively poor people, who're working really hard, in an effort to make an honest living and raise kids in the hope that their lot will be better than their own; so in that respect at least, it's a bit like Burnley really.