by Jack
YEMEN: Egypt and Saudi Arabia are not about to see Yemen fall into the hands of Shia rebel (Houthi). It’s unacceptable said Saudi Arabia yesterday that they were ready to send 100,000 soldiers against the Houthi which are closely tied to Iran. Egypt is ready to commit forces too because they don’t want Iran involved in Yemen!
Yemen sits on the border with the Saudis, but they don’t have any oil. This place is a desert and as a result it has a weak, impoverished economy, but it’s surrounded by oil rich nations. But, this isn’t about economics, it comes down to a religious war that has been in the making for about 700 years. Yemen is in a good logistical location for the Shias. This conflict threatens to have Shia Muslims pitted against Sunni Muslims in an all out battle. To add more chaos to this epic collision of two huge forces, we see some serious in-fighting within each sect because of radical fundamentalists.
Before we leave Yemen, here’s a good one: We were so quick to get out of there we left behind secret documents that identified the people in country that had been giving us information. Yeah, we did. A whole filing cabinet filled with names of informants…how can we be so stupid?
ENTER THE RADICALS: On both sides, Sunni and Shia, there are the radicals who oppose the moderate forces of Islam and want to see a showdown. Most notable among them is our old nemesis Al Qaeda and their young off-spring ISIS. They come under the broad Sunni banner, but they revile moderate Sunnis. They’re extreme fundamentalists that have been inspired by the Muslim “Wahhabi” schools, many of which are in Saudi Arabia. The Wahhabi preach the fundamentalist line of original 6th century doctrine.
Unfortunately for us, the Wahhabi sect is not uncommon in the Middle East and this has stalled more than one reform attempt that would make Islam more compatible with 21st century values, if not Western values.
So, ISSI has borrowed liberally from the Wahhabi teachings and used them justify barbaric terrorism. They take this fundamentalism further than anyone else to date and see themselves as the Uber-defenders of original Islamic teachings… as Allah willed it. Anyone else is an enemy, even moderate Muslims! This is why the royal family in Saudi Arabia feels threatened and so does the Egyptian government. They’re both moderate compared to ISIS (or Al Qaeda) and they want no part of them now. Their terrorism is totally out of control and threatens the whole Middle East.
ISSI would like to see their new Caliphate (Islamic) State boundaries somewhat close to that of the old Ottoman Empire, that’s a huge area. They would be taking large tracts of land from a host of countries and this scares the heck out folks who don’t want to be sucked into a massive radical ISIL/ISIS conglomerate!
PAKISTAN, EGYPT AND SAUDI ARABIA PARTNER UP: Another major player has just entered this fray within the last 24 hours, and here comes Pakistan. Again, they are mostly Sunni Muslims, like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, so that’s one connection. Pakistan also has a radical problem that threatens their government, another connection and they are just as opposed to Iran’s influence as any other Sunni controlled nation.
ISIL: Next, we have fractured alliances that take radicalism/terrorism to a whole new level and this is where it gets extremely confusing. I won’t even bother to go there in any detail. For our purposes now lets just say these radicals are found mostly in Iraq and Syria where Iranian backed Shia have a major influence. ISIS of course is the most notable and most radical of these terrorist organizations and they would like to see Syria and Iraq be part of their new fundamentalist Caliphate State.
SYRIAN GOVERNMENT UNDER BASHAR al ASSAD: The Syrian government is currently being aided only by Iran and Russia, but we find ourselves helping Syria because we are bombing ISIS inside Syria and that takes some of the pressure off the Syrian government. As of today the Shia militia forces inside Iraq and directed mostly by Iran, have broken off from the fight in Tikrit. At the request of the Iraqi government we’re replacing them and doing precision bombing against ISIS targets inside the besieged city. This will have the effect of us hitting Sunnis, which won’t play out well within countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, even those these Sunni’s are extremists and pose a threat to more moderate Sunni, they are still Sunni and we’re still the infidels, so we’ve got that to consider….!!!!
Because of this, “damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” situation the US will probably not do well in the end. There’s very little to be gained, except blocking Iran’s influence that has been spreading.
Consider this too, the terrorist organization Hezbollah, in Lebanon and beyond, could not exist if it were not for Iran’s generous support. Hezbollah has been fighting in Syria against Bashar al Assad and this is good (sort of) because Obama says we would like to Assad out because of all his civil rights violations. But, who takes his place?
And then there is Israel: Iran has been the key agitator when it comes to anything to do with Israel. They’ve been an impediment to Israeli peace attempts with the Palestinians. Yet, another reason to push back against Iran, which as of late has been helping Iraq and that helps us because we want Iraq to become stable, we’re just not sure how to do it. Sec. of State John Kerry says he invasions Iraq split into 3 countries before its over. This is a real possibility too, the Kurds would get part, Sunnis and Shia the other parts. The only problem with this is the Sunni region has no natural resources and zero oil. So what happens to them?
Here’s todays news: “CAIRO — Egypt said Thursday that it was prepared to send troops into Yemen as part of a Saudi-led campaign to drive back the Iranian-backed Houthi advance, signaling the growing likelihood of a protracted ground war on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
A day after Saudi Arabia and a coalition of nine other states began hammering the Houthis with airstrikes and blockading the Yemeni coast, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt said in a statement that the country’s navy and air force had joined the campaign and that its army was ready to send ground troops “if necessary.”
Breaking news: “US Secretary of State John Kerry branded Bashar al-Assad “a brutal dictator” Wednesday, a week after suggesting that it would be necessary to negotiate with the Syrian president to forge peace.”
See, our foreign policy is all over the map. It’s as confused as the whole Middle East…its a mess.
SUMMARY:
1. Shia militia leave fighting in Tikrit, ISIS holding city.
2. US airstrikes start in Tikrit.
3. Yemen falls to rebels.
4. Saudis and Egypt ready to kick rebels out of power in Yemen.
5. ISIS winning territory inside three nations, and spreading like wildfire.
6. Other terrorist organization aligning with ISIS.
7. Great show down in the making between Sunni and Shia.
8. Obama befuddled and sending mixed messages, has no clue who to support.
LOL and the Iraq war? The results of it?
Wise words from Dick Cheney
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BEsZMvrq-I
You can hate the president but it is time we hold the Bush Admin responsible for their actions.
We need to hold every single admin accountable. The Iraq war is responsible for this. Saddam was a tyrant but he kept the rebels at bay. What did we get for all our tax dollars? More war and more debt.
Dick Cheney changed his tune after leaving Halliburton with that nice big bonus on the way to the VP office.
Funny now we are fighting with Iran! Bet that gets the War hawks all warm and fuzzy like Bomb Bomb Iran McCain and his ISIL buddies.
Treason is being preformed by congress. Time to wake up.
Georgia (Dewey, et al) the link you provided was for a comment Cheney made in 1994. At that time the coalition that went against Saddam Hussein had limited their help to pushing his forces out of Kuwait, specifically with an agreement not to push on to Baghdad.
The reasons for the next war had to do with Saddam’s repeated violation of the peace treaty he signed. You are mixing up history to suit your own political agenda and we do not appreciate that bullsh– here. You are great as a leftwing propagandist, but you don’t do very well with the truth and your logic has a lot to be desired too.
key rap, my last comments got deleated. I wanted tell Georgia to get real and live in the present, get off Bush will ya?
Cause right now the arab countries are ready to blow up, we got terrorists killing people whenever they feel like it, this country is dam near broke, and we got nothing coming from president clueless. he pissed on our only true friends over there Israel and he let Iran walk all over us when it comes to this nuke thing.
i think ol Georgie is a shill for the communist party or she is as clueless as B.O, or maybe both! L-O-L
Dan, the person using the name “Georgia” is probably a guy that haunted this site until he was booted off for absurd libel of the worst magnatude. We all recognize her BS that is exactly the same BS as that that came from former that former poster. I think its sort of funny, so I played along, but my patience is about up.
Re #1: Yep, it is Dewey. His lunacy signature never changes. Hey Dewey! ROTFLMAO
Too bad the Yemen tinpot dictator thugocracy never learned to slant drill.
Obama is destroying our relationship with the only true democracy in the Middle East. Part and parcel of his “transformation of America” policy — transforming the world into a more dangerous place than it already is.
Will we ever recover from this “community organizer?”
By the way … Hi Dewey! (Aka georgia.) Sad to see you are the same pathetic lunatic you have always been.
Hey Mr.Jack, jes remember this:
The shallower the stream, the louder the babble.
Southern Comfort, Georgia can’t let go of Bush, but as they say in your neck of the woods, “If’n ya’ll can’t put the past behind ya, you’re apt to get the past in yer behind.”
Hey, is APT another word fer BOOT?
More in likely you can say this bout’ this Georgia person,
life is like jugglin’ pitchforks, most every one notices when ya mess up!
Re #3 Dan the Man:
A shill? I think not. To be a shill requires at least a modicum of intelligence.
Commentary from elsewhere on the web—
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Unpopular!
Posted by John S. Farnam on 30 Mar 2015
“All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions.”
Adlai Stevenson
We desperately need a few “unpopular” people to speak-up now!
In a meeting yesterday in Egypt, of Middle-Eastern nations (mainly Egypt and Saudi Arabia), it was decided to form, without delay, a joint military task-force to oppose Iranian incursions into Yemen, Syria, et al.
Saudis are particularly frightened, and should be! An Iranian invasion/take-over (from Yemen) is likely and, when successful, will see the entire Saudi Royal Family hanging from the gallows! They, like Japan, have reluctantly concluded that they must have their own nuclear weapons, since, as in Israel, they know and understand they cannot trust the BHO Administration, nor believe any of its promises. No wonder Saudis are nervously throwing money at the Clintons!
Meanwhile, the Administration currently seems intent on crawling in bed with Iran, while simultaneously denigrating Israel, and Natanyahu personally!
The nuclear “agreement” (more like “capitulation”) currently being negotiated with Iran we were told was designed to prevent Iran from getting its hands on nuclear weapons. Now, we’re suddenly told, by these same liberals, that a nuclear Iran is inevitable! Even then, Iran is, at the last minute, stubbornly insisting on even more concessions. You can’t make this up!
The Persian/Arab conflict, millennia old, is consuming the entire Mid-East, most of Africa, particularly north Africa, and central Asia. It is intensifying, and spreading, by the day. In the interim, the USA is a timid, groping non-player. The BHO Administration is not revered, nor respected, anywhere in the world, nor should it be. Yet, our liberal media continues to apologize for it and relentlessly denigrates its critics. Maybe their new excuse for catastrophe will be “plausible incompetence.”
Still, Administration skeptics are “unpopular.”
American Jews who voted for BHO must be feeling pretty stupid right now! In fact, I know they are, as many anxiously come to me for serious training, and, in the process, sheepishly admit they were taken in, along with legions of similarly naive.
All of us, sage and dull alike, will have to endure some pretty tough times, that are coming-on fast, as world history continues downhill. Many won’t make it!
The chronically dependent, who foolishly bought-off on the fallacious liberal mantra that “someone else” cares about them more than they care about themselves, will perish first!
The tough, resilient, self-contained, respectable, well-prepared, and purposeful have a chance.
While not claiming the gift of prophesy, I do not see a bright future for Western Civilization, nor the rest of the world!
“Always outnumbered. Never outfought!”
Motto of the Special Action Force of the Philippine Constabulary
… and ours!
/John
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Link
http://defense-training.com/dti/unpopular/