Some people like to put their ready cash in a monkey, perhaps a baboon or a chimp if you can't afford the taxidermy on the larger trophy. And when a burglar confronts you in your study demanding cash, you gesture calmly to the simian floor safe, "The money's up the monkey, help yourself." It's a kind of preface to the thunder of a .357 Magnum.
Now imagine this scenario on a larger scale, replace the monkey with pipelines, a revolver with cruise missiles and you have something approaching Syria. Like the infamous monkey, pipelines are key to understanding the scenario. Here's a helpful infographic from Zerohedge:
For a quick-to-read backgrounder on the pipeline dimension to the Syrian affair, check out The Oil-Gas War Over Syria (In 4 Maps).
Then ask yourself, when you've finished reading, who the good guys are.
Here endeth the Lesson,
LSP