(CNN) -- President Barack Obama is getting a lot of free advice. Here's a question, not an answer: With every issue in the Middle East intertwined with every other, like a giant bowl of spaghetti, where do you begin? In reality, no matter where you begin in the Middle East, each strand connects to almost every other: Syria? Immediately you must think of the Turks who are harboring refugees and fighters just across the border, and Syrian Kurds, who are beginning to harbor thoughts of autonomy and are increasing contacts with their ethnic brothers in Iraq and Turkey. Iran, of course, is aiding the beleaguered Bashar al-Assad but also trying to organize an exit strategy; Saudi Arabia and Qatar are pouring money and arms into the country with the sole purpose of cracking the Syria-Iran entente; Iraq fears that a Sunni takeover in Syria will revitalize its own restless Sunnis.
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Gary Sick: Mideast issues are all bound up together, impossible to disentangle
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Syria, Iran, Israel, the Palestinians, Saudi Arabia: All are intertwined politically
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Obama's first step must be to deal with Iran, he says, accepting compromise essential
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Sick: Iran deal would cut threat of war, help in Syria, lesson risk of nuclear proliferation in region
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The whole @placeholder has a habit of intruding, and policy choices will have to be made about each of the major issues, even if it is not convenient.
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A point of entry: Possibly the most promising strand to pull when trying to unravel the @placeholder problem is the Iranian dilemma.
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He made a genuine attempt, but he quickly pulled back in the face of @placeholder's brutal suppression of a civil uprising, Israeli demands for an early deadline on the nuclear issue and the fact that he had a lot on his domestic plate.
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They (and @placeholder) will have to be persuaded that any accommodation with Iran is not at their expense.
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The possibility of getting @placeholder cooperation on Syria would be improved.