Sunni & Shia United Against the USA
Guess who is coming to dinner?
PM Maliki, Dawa Party (Hizbollah)
United Against the U.S., Israel
Syria, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas are partners in that sense, and they are gaining clout. The Iraq war has played a key role, analysts say.
My Senator Dianne Feinstein says Israel is "crucial to Middle East stability".
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Yes, this is a boiling cauldron.
America has consistently used Israel as a wedge and puppet govt's in the ME to divide and conquer the sects. It is no coincidence that in just about every one of these ME countries the ruling majority was the minority Sunni sect.
How well that served the purpose of the USA in maintaining Israel's 'right to exist' by keeping the 'internal strife' between sects.
Now the chickens have come home to roost. The Shia's have realized that they can exert power and influence and they are ready to do so.
This somewhat reminds me of the political picture in America in terms of the 'browning' of America....image the political revolution when the blacks, hispanics and asian minoritys finally decide to join together against the larger corporate and WASP political agenda.
But for now, the topic is the ME...so let us watch as the sects realize their power by uniting instead of being a divided house. Syria knows what it is like to be a mighty force in the ME and it seems they aspire to return to that prominence, only this time they will unite with Iran...since the Shah is now gone.
July 21, 2006 9:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
"America has consistently used Israel as a wedge and puppet govt's in the ME to divide and conquer the sects. It is no coincidence that in just about every one of these ME countries the ruling majority was the minority Sunni sect.
How well that served the purpose of the USA in maintaining Israel's 'right to exist' by keeping the 'internal strife' between sects.
Now the chickens have come home to roost. The Shia's have realized that they can exert power and influence and they are ready to do so."
You need to catch up on your reading. Iraq was the only country in the region with a minority Sunni government and is the only Arab country with a Shiia majority. Syria is 74% Sunni and has a minority Alawite (offshoot of Shiia) government. Egypt 90% Sunni. Jordan 95% Sunni. Lebanon is 40% Christian, 26% Sunni, 26% Shiia.
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/c15680.htm
July 21, 2006 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the info....it does not alter the dynamics of divide and conquer that USA uses to foster dissension and strife among the Sunni's and Shiia's.
More importantly it does not bode well for America that the sects are uniting with their common interest being 'anti-Israel and anti-USA'
July 21, 2006 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think they really are. The Sunni Arab states Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and several of the Emirates are condemning Hezbollah.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/17/world/middleeast/17arab.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
They do not want Iranian influence to increase. The Arab/Persian cultural split is at least as strong as the Sunni/Shia split.
July 21, 2006 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink