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9 attempts to explain the crazy complexity of the Middle East
Washington Post ^ | 01 October 2015 | Adam Taylor

Posted on 10/07/2015 8:08:59 AM PDT by Lorianne

The Middle East is complicated.

The religious, social and political cleavages of the region are myriad and hard to succinctly sum up. How do you untangle the Israeli-Palestinian situation, or explain the divide between Sunni Islam and Shia Islam, or square those who favor political Islam with those who favor secular government? Where do other religious and political minorities fit in? And where do big powers outside the region, most obviously the United States, exert influence?

Last summer, a reader of the Financial Times tried to make sense of the Middle East with a widely shared letter to the editor:

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: me; middleeast
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1 posted on 10/07/2015 8:08:59 AM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne
Obama, Hillary, MeCain, Kerry - all to happy to let the Syrian Rebels, better know as ISIS, overthrow Assad.

Putin says, I'll kill those terrorist bastards for everyone as he moves in military assets into Syria. ..propping up Assad.

Syrian Rebels, better know as ISIS, skedattle to Europe.

Obama supports Iran fighting ISIS in Iraq, which it has been at war many times.

Now Obama welcomes the ISIS refugees with open arms.

2 posted on 10/07/2015 8:12:46 AM PDT by TexasCajun (#BlackViolenceMatters)
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To: Lorianne
My husband and I lived in the KSA for five years. He was a man of few words.
HIS comment, at the end, was that Arabs don't think like we do.
Once that was thoroughly understood then the mayhem that is the Arab/Muslim world wasn't so tough to deal with.
3 posted on 10/07/2015 8:18:16 AM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: Lorianne

Liberal propaganda. Liberals love to hide behind ‘complexity’, especially when they caused or facilitated the problem.


4 posted on 10/07/2015 8:18:45 AM PDT by aimhigh (1 John 3:21)
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To: cloudmountain
HIS comment, at the end, was that Arabs don't think like we do. Once that was thoroughly understood then the mayhem that is the Arab/Muslim world wasn't so tough to deal with.

Your husband's right. They really don't think like we do...

5 posted on 10/07/2015 8:20:46 AM PDT by GOPJ (Dems want gun legislation? Fine. Pass a Bill outlawing 'gun free' zones.)
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To: aimhigh

The problem in a nutshell is that no one power has crushed the others. Until that happens there will be eternal war.


6 posted on 10/07/2015 8:21:02 AM PDT by refermech
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To: aimhigh

Fine line between complexity and idiocy.


7 posted on 10/07/2015 8:22:12 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: Lorianne

Here’s the key: There are no good guys.


8 posted on 10/07/2015 8:23:10 AM PDT by Calpublican (Republican Party Now Stands for Nothing!!!!!(Except Conniving))
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To: refermech

There was a nice balance of evil between Iran and Iraq. Them killing each other was to our benefit and we had relative stability in the region. We took out Iraq and now Iran dominates. Now we are releasing 150 billion to them and they will dominate even more.


9 posted on 10/07/2015 8:24:52 AM PDT by TigerClaws
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To: Lorianne

Intellectuals and politicians love to turn the simple into the complex.

It isn’t that complicated.

Where you find Islam you find evil and strife.


10 posted on 10/07/2015 8:29:36 AM PDT by Iron Munro (The wise have stores of choice food and oil but a foolish man devours all he has. Proverbs 21:20)
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To: Lorianne
To me, current events are not that complicated. A Sunni/Shia rift has been increasing in recent years. Russia has sided with the Shia component - Iran, Iraq, Syria (run by the minority Shia Alawite sect) and Hezbolla. On the other side we have Israel siding with Saudi Arabia against the Shia. And ISIS is the wild card, where politically-estranged Sunnis in Syria and Iraq have taken matters into their own hands.

Note that Russia just launched missiles across Iranian and Iraqi airspace to hit ISIS targets.

Meanwhile, the Kurds, as always, are just trying to protect themselves.

And Obama has his thumb up his a**.

11 posted on 10/07/2015 8:38:03 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: Calpublican

Amen to that.


12 posted on 10/07/2015 8:46:33 AM PDT by Lorianne
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To: cloudmountain

I have spend some time in the region myself and came to the same conclusion.


13 posted on 10/07/2015 8:48:50 AM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne

Seems pretty simple to me, Muzzie scum acting like Muzzie scum.


14 posted on 10/07/2015 9:02:50 AM PDT by VTenigma (The Democratic party is the party of the mathematically challenged)
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To: Lorianne

Ir is not really that complex.

Shia hates Sunni and vice versa. Iran is Shia and Saudi Arabia is Sunni. They are currently waging proxy wars in Iraq and Syria to see who will be dominate.


15 posted on 10/07/2015 9:04:52 AM PDT by MNJohnnie (Giving more money to DC to fix the Debt is like giving free drugs to addicts think it will cure them)
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To: MNJohnnie

Very succinctly said.
I will add that we needn’t be taking sides in this proxy war.


16 posted on 10/07/2015 9:22:29 AM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Calpublican

No, Isreal is a good guy. The key is there is no good Islam. Remove Islam from the mix and it all smoothes out.


17 posted on 10/07/2015 9:33:49 AM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: Lorianne

Take one step back if you want to see the truth. . .violence is a way of life. Anyone who tries to change it becomes embroiled in it.


18 posted on 10/07/2015 10:22:33 AM PDT by gspurlock (http://www.backyardfence.wordpress.com)
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To: American in Israel

It’s a given on Israel. It is the only reasonable population in the region.


19 posted on 10/07/2015 12:14:56 PM PDT by Calpublican (Republican Party Now Stands for Nothing!!!!!(Except Conniving))
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To: Lorianne
Some summary of the topics, at hand, are found at Discover The Networks:

Middle East

Islam

Jihad

Islamist

Radical Islam

The Irainian Threat

Obama and Iran

Iraq War

Obama and The Iraq War

AL QAEDA

ISLAMIC STATE (IS, ISIS, ISIL)

MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

Israel

Obama and Israel

War On Terror

PALESTINIAN / ARAB TERRORISM

They lack much on Syria and its Civil War so I have to send it to about.com

Syrian Civil War Explained I will update this in a follow up post later with more topics.

20 posted on 10/07/2015 1:24:00 PM PDT by Mozilla
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