brigand-in-chief

Hariri's murder cries out from the Earth
and Mehlis pinned the blame on al-Assad
a Criminal Court of a nickel's worth
would free his cringing soul to meet his God
a hundred groups compete to claim his head
although they're often at each other's throats
until Assad's whole clan is safely dead
the region's run by bullets, not by votes
but Putin's hot to keep an ice-free port
and doesn't trust the Arctic to stay clear
a fellow butcher after Vlad's own sort
keeps the Levant dysfunctional with fear
six million refugees flee in despair
a broken State that's now a brigand's lair