Syrian astronaut (8 days on Mir space station) is now a refugee

[jakeXT]

1. Ah yes democracy, a problem for the CIA even back in 1949

March 1949 Syrian coup d'état

...

The coup was carried out with the discreet backing of the United States government and especially the newly formed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), possibly assisted by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), although al-Za'im himself is not known to have been a member. According to Joseph Massad, a professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History at Columbia University, the coup was sponsored by the CIA,[3] a conclusion in agreement with other historians such as Prof. Douglas Little, and declassified records.[4] The coup is also described by author Irene Gendzier, who states that "CIA agents Miles Copeland and Stephen Meade . . . were directly involved in the coup."[5]

An overarching US policy objective in Syria at the time was allowing the construction of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, which the democratically elected government of Syria had blocked. The "Tapline" project was immediately ratified following the coup.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1949_Syrian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat