To paraphrase the title of a popular self-help book: All I really needed to know about the Middle East I learned from one meeting.

Openly reported, it took place July 27, in Damascus and brought together four key figures: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Iran’s National Security Council, the leader of Hamas and Syria’s vice president. One subject of the discussions was Iranian use of Syrian land routes to resupply Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

The guest list reveals the unholy, but wholly natural, alliance now wreaking havoc in the Middle East.

Hezbollah takes its orders primarily from the Iranian government, which has trained and supplied the group responsible for more American deaths than any other, except al Qaeda. Iran is also the chief backer of the Iraqi militias, whose increased bombings have forced the United States to commit more troops to securing Baghdad. Syria is the prime sponsor of Hamas, the perpetrator of terrorist attacks against Israel from Gaza and the West Bank. Iran and Syria developed a strong alliance, having signed a military cooperation treaty a month before Hezbollah began raining down missiles on Israel.

With that background in mind, let’s connect the dots: