The ancient Muslim hatreds tearing apart the Middle East: How 1,400-year-old feud between Shia and Sunni sects flared into life with the fall of dictators like Gaddafi and Saddam... and now threatens to swallow all of Iraq

[flowers]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2656734/Ancient-hatreds-tearing-apart-Middle-East-How-1-400-year-old-feud-Shia-Sunni-Muslims-flared-life-fall-dictators-like-Gaddafi-Saddam-threatens-swallow-Iraq.html

Sunni and Shia factions have been warring since 632AD disagreement over successor to prophet Muhammad
ISIS militants - who are Sunni - have been stampeding through majority-Shia Iraq
But the militants have stuck to Sunni heartlands, where residents are glad to be rid of Shia government forces
Religious tensions are flaring again now that dictators such as Colonel Gadaffi and Saddam Hussein have fallen
Rest of the world - and especially other Middle Eastern states - are watching nervously as the conflict intensifies

[Chieftain]

Good article and I recommend everyone take the time to read it.

The situation in the Middle East is rapidly reverting to the days of the Ottoman Empire with States like Libya, Syria and now Iraq disintegrating back into ancient tribal interests.  It is no secret that the Arabs have always been ruled by a "strong man" style of governance.  Democracy and representative government are alien concepts to these people whose traditions are indeed anchored in 7th century Islam.  Sharia is an entire lifestyle code, not just a legal system, and it goes back centuries.

What we have is a number of power vacuums in the Middle East that have been specifically and deliberately created by the Obama Administration in their zeal to withdraw the United States from world leadership.  The only thing that has kept a cork in the Middle East djinn bottle since the end of WWII has been the presence of the United States Navy, in the form of a permanently deployed carrier task force to the Mediterranean.  One of the first things Obama did when he was immaculated was to withdraw that carrier force, leaving an enormous power vacuum that the Russians and Iranians have been eager to step into.  Obama pulled the rug out from under Hosni Mubarak without any thought or concern to what came next.  Ditto with Kadaffy in Libya, and Malaki in Iraq.  The descent into civil war was long predicted as a consequence of an abrupt American withdrawl, and Obama did it anyway.

And indeed this is the same 1400 year old conflict only with better weapons.  Wait until one of these guys successfully liberates Pakistan's nuclear warheads.....

 

[katzenjammer]

Good article and I recommend everyone take the time to read it.

The situation in the Middle East is rapidly reverting to the days of the Ottoman Empire with States like Libya, Syria and now Iraq disintegrating back into ancient tribal interests.  It is no secret that the Arabs have always been ruled by a "strong man" style of governance.  Democracy and representative government are alien concepts to these people whose traditions are indeed anchored in 7th century Islam.  Sharia is an entire lifestyle code, not just a legal system, and it goes back centuries.

What we have is a number of power vacuums in the Middle East that have been specifically and deliberately created by the Obama Administration in their zeal to withdraw the United States from world leadership.  The only thing that has kept a cork in the Middle East djinn bottle since the end of WWII has been the presence of the United States Navy, in the form of a permanently deployed carrier task force to the Mediterranean.  One of the first things Obama did when he was immaculated was to withdraw that carrier force, leaving an enormous power vacuum that the Russians and Iranians have been eager to step into.  Obama pulled the rug out from under Hosni Mubarak without any thought or concern to what came next.  Ditto with Kadaffy in Libya, and Malaki in Iraq.  The descent into civil war was long predicted as a consequence of an abrupt American withdrawl, and Obama did it anyway.

And indeed this is the same 1400 year old conflict only with better weapons.  Wait until one of these guys successfully liberates Pakistan's nuclear warheads.....

 

Yes, it is a very good article, I agree.  And, I hope that anyone that has any doubts (i.e., still wanting to chalk it up to "incompetence" or anything like that), finally understands that none of this has been by accident.  It is all being done on purpose, for the results that are just starting to unfold.

[olde north church]

Yes, it is a very good article, I agree.  And, I hope that anyone that has any doubts (i.e., still wanting to chalk it up to "incompetence" or anything like that), finally understands that none of this has been by accident.  It is all being done on purpose, for the results that are just starting to unfold.

Such as the discharging of upper echelon military.