SYRIA.
That ancient Middle Eastern nation is now well and truly back in the news headlines.
It's on the front pages of every British national newspaper, bar one.
But then, Celebrity Big Brother is rather important too, isn't it, Mr Desmond?
The current state of play is very concerning indeed. As we stand, weapons inspectors from the United Nations are carrying out detailed investigations into the alleged use of chemical devices to kill and maim hundreds of innocent men, women and children in a suburb of the nation's capital city, Damascus.
The inspectors are set to complete their work by Friday and report back to the Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon over the weekend.
It is believed that the regime of dictator President Bashar al-Assad is responsible for the actions that caused all these deaths by use of weapons outlawed since a treaty was signed by the vast majority of the world's nations as long ago as the 1920s.
Syria, incidentally, is one of the handful of countries not to have signed the treaty alongside such other luminaries as Angola, Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan.
It is believed that since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, at least 100,000 people have already perished.
But it's only now that the world has decided to sit up and take notice - and it's all due to the usage of chemical weapons.
From my limited knowledge of the situation and taking on board my education which led to a degree in history, I find it completely inconceivable that military action taken by outside forces could lead to anything other than regime change in Syria.
For goodness sake, this isn't a particularly tricky level in Call Of Duty where you can always press the reset button if things go awry.
You are dealing with the lives of millions of people, not just in Syria but in the wider Middle East and arguably the whole world.
I just cannot agree with the idea that firing a few dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at identified military targets will immediately solve the crisis in Syria.
If anything, I believe Assad's regime will fight back in any way he sees fit. And with his allies Russia and Iran close by, that's an extremely fearful thought indeed.
But then, we have the flip side of this coin. Does the world sit by and do nothing and allow this dictator to continue gassing his own people?
It seems to me, that the only long term solution for Syria is almost certainly going to be regime change. For once a leader has sanctioned the use of chemical weapons against his own people, how on earth can he be welcomed to the table of diplomacy at the United Nations? After all, surely Assad is a war criminal and by definition would need to stand before an international court of law.
I just hope there is complete support at the United Nations for whatever action is taken. But with China and Russia hinting they may well vote against a military response led by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, I fear that may well not be forthcoming.
The next few days are going to be very important indeed for the lives of millions of people in the Middle East.
It certainly puts other things into perspective... although Big Ron's latest faux pas is pretty important too, eh, Mr Desmond?
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