12/11 Morning Report: Sunni vs. Shiite

A Lebanon peace effort has Syrian support? This after Hezbollah has resisted all efforts by anti-Syrian groups—to the point of walking out on their govenemental responsibilities. I don’t know about you, but I’m suspicious already. Real civil war brewing there is also between the Shiites and Sunnis.

Meanwhile, days after Fatah announced that early elections might bring some stability to Gaza—an announcement intensely disliked by Hamas—a senior Fatah official has three children killed in a drive by shooting. Hamas says they had nothing to do with it. This shooting also came one day after an apparent attempt to kill the Interior Minister.

Hamas, according to Globalsecurity.org is primarily Sunni. Most Palestinians seemed to prefer the religious group over the more secular Fatah during the recent elections. Hezbollah, as the news has repeatedly told us, is primarily Shiite. Hezbollah gets it’s support from Iran and Syria. In addition, Syria has actually been quietly backing Fatah since the mid-1960s. And, as history has told us, and events in Iraq remind us, Sunnis and Shiites DO NOT like each other

In fact, as we are reminded in this CQ.com article, al-Qaeda is predominantly made up of radical Sunnis. Why? Because they consider the Shiite Saudi’s to have committed extreme Islamic heresy.

Interestingly, Iran is primarily Shiite. Syria is predominantly Sunni. Saudi Arabia is predominantly Shiite. Actually, if you want a good breakdown on Sunni-vs.-Shiite, and a map of where they can all be found, go see this article by the Captain.

So, we learn that all of the major nations—Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria—are supporting the violence for their own religious ends. Well, how come no one is asking the obvious question: Given that these nations support both religious sides in their violent endeavors, why should I believe they will actually work to stop the violence in Iraq? Or anywhere else in the Middle East for that matter?

And, since this is a major cornerstone of the Iraq Study Group report, why should I blindly embrace the rest of it? Why should the Bush administration? Just because “no has any better ideas”?

Other related thoughts:
Captain’s Comments: A Look INot Islam Series

Right Wing Guy: Iranian Evil

Yid With Lid: Syria Aiming for Israel; Al-Qaida Targets UNIFIL But France targets IAF

Gateway Pundit: Gaza Gunmen Target Minister in Front of School

Strategy page: The Sunni Arabs Have a Plan That May Work