Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times Online.
Given his long held thesis that a proposed pipeline running from Iran through Iraq and Syria is the fundamental issue driving the Empire's support of mercenaries in the Syrian war, he sees European elites as stupid because they not acting in their own interests. I disagree that the European leaders are stupid.
I think what he is missing in his analysis is the fact that European capitalists have been totally integrated into the Empire. This means that they look at the entire world as their playground for dominance and exploitation. This is the essence of neoliberalism whose main purpose is to remove borders that impede the movement of money and investments by these elites. This means that they, like their North American counterparts, are globalists which means that their own populations have no priority over any other population. Control over vital energy resources is a top priority for their control and exploitation of the entire world. Thus, they are acting intelligently for their interests.
Of course, Israel is also a major factor driving events in this Syrian war. They have their own Mid-East agenda: the creation of their own sub-Empire, and their main strategy is to keep Arabs constantly fighting and killing each other.