Green Energy
From Strategy Page, via Atlas Shrugs:
Iran aside, there hasn't been a really noisy response from the Moslem world about Israel's military operations against Lebanon. Notably subdued is the response from the Arab countries; it's mostly been mumbling about the plight of the Palestinians and such. Could this mean that the principal Arab leaders are not all that unhappy to see Hizbollah get it in the neck? After all, most of the Arabs are Sunni, while Hizbollah and Iran are Shia.
The exception that proves the rule is Syria, which has a Shia leadership. But most Arabs fear Iran, not because most Iranians are Shia, but because Iranians are not Arabs.
Iran has been the regional superpower for over three thousand years. Iran is building nuclear weapons. Iran is backing Shia Arab factions in Iraq that would support turning Iraq into an Iranian ally. Also scary is the fact that Iran is currently run by a religious dictatorship. Most Arabs have noted how that worked in Iran, Sudan and Afghanistan and want no part of it.
Worse, the Iranian religious leadership believes that they would do a better job running the Hejaz (the region of Saudi Arabia containing Mecca and Medina and the most holy places in Islam). For centuries, the Turks kept the Iranians out of the Hejaz. But who would keep nuclear armed Iranians out?
Perhaps worst of all, what if Iran tried attacking Israel with nukes, and both nations went at it with nuclear weapons. Iran has loudly proclaimed its aim of destroying Israel, but Israel has nuclear weapons, and no desire to be destroyed. The Arabs would be caught in the middle of all this.
Read the rest at Atlas Shrugs.
Here's a question I want to put to everybody: It seems to me, the Arab world backs away from everyone the Western nations attack. They backed away when we attacked Iraq. They backed away when we told Syria to get their military the hell out of Lebanon. And, now they are backing away from Iran.
So, the question is, would they back away no matter who we attacked, or are we attacking only those countries that the Arab world does not like?
If we attacked Saudi Arabis, for instance, would it be a whole different story?
- The Cost Of "containing" Iran ...
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- Egyptian Foreign Minister: Gaza War Was Fault Of Iran
From Reliapundit at the Astute Bloggers: REUTERS: Egypt blames Iran and its allies for Gaza conflict CAIRO: Egypt aired its grievances against Iran, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah, saying they worked together...
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- Perchance, Is This The Way We Will Win?
Saudi Arabia and Iran Will Come Head To Head In Iraq (from the Telegraph): The gulf's two military powers, Sunni-Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran, are lining up behind their warring religious brethren in Iraq in a potentially explosive showdown,...
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"...Israeli television said early [today] the bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guards had been found among guerrillas killed in south Lebanon. There was no independent confirmation. Hizbollah denied that any Iranians were taking part in the fighting alongside...
Green Energy
Why Is The Arab World Backing Away From Iran
From Strategy Page, via Atlas Shrugs:
Iran aside, there hasn't been a really noisy response from the Moslem world about Israel's military operations against Lebanon. Notably subdued is the response from the Arab countries; it's mostly been mumbling about the plight of the Palestinians and such. Could this mean that the principal Arab leaders are not all that unhappy to see Hizbollah get it in the neck? After all, most of the Arabs are Sunni, while Hizbollah and Iran are Shia.
The exception that proves the rule is Syria, which has a Shia leadership. But most Arabs fear Iran, not because most Iranians are Shia, but because Iranians are not Arabs.
Iran has been the regional superpower for over three thousand years. Iran is building nuclear weapons. Iran is backing Shia Arab factions in Iraq that would support turning Iraq into an Iranian ally. Also scary is the fact that Iran is currently run by a religious dictatorship. Most Arabs have noted how that worked in Iran, Sudan and Afghanistan and want no part of it.
Worse, the Iranian religious leadership believes that they would do a better job running the Hejaz (the region of Saudi Arabia containing Mecca and Medina and the most holy places in Islam). For centuries, the Turks kept the Iranians out of the Hejaz. But who would keep nuclear armed Iranians out?
Perhaps worst of all, what if Iran tried attacking Israel with nukes, and both nations went at it with nuclear weapons. Iran has loudly proclaimed its aim of destroying Israel, but Israel has nuclear weapons, and no desire to be destroyed. The Arabs would be caught in the middle of all this.
Read the rest at Atlas Shrugs.
Here's a question I want to put to everybody: It seems to me, the Arab world backs away from everyone the Western nations attack. They backed away when we attacked Iraq. They backed away when we told Syria to get their military the hell out of Lebanon. And, now they are backing away from Iran.
So, the question is, would they back away no matter who we attacked, or are we attacking only those countries that the Arab world does not like?
If we attacked Saudi Arabis, for instance, would it be a whole different story?
- The Cost Of "containing" Iran ...
... when there is no such thing as Containing Iran. From Ace: Even if you believe Iran will be rational and not nuke Israel directly or hand off some nukes to their terror front groups to do the job, you simply can't ignore 30 years of history. Iran...
- Egyptian Foreign Minister: Gaza War Was Fault Of Iran
From Reliapundit at the Astute Bloggers: REUTERS: Egypt blames Iran and its allies for Gaza conflict CAIRO: Egypt aired its grievances against Iran, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah, saying they worked together...
- Wsj On Fallout From The Nie Whitewash, And Posthumous Victory For George Marshall Arabists
The Gulf States and Iran America and Israel aren't the only ones worried about the mullahs getting a nuclear bomb. BY MAX BOOT Sunday, December 9, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST Sultan Qaboos of Oman, King Abdullah of KSA, and Mr. World without...
- Perchance, Is This The Way We Will Win?
Saudi Arabia and Iran Will Come Head To Head In Iraq (from the Telegraph): The gulf's two military powers, Sunni-Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran, are lining up behind their warring religious brethren in Iraq in a potentially explosive showdown,...
- Iranian Revolutionary Guards Fighting With Hezbollah?
"...Israeli television said early [today] the bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guards had been found among guerrillas killed in south Lebanon. There was no independent confirmation. Hizbollah denied that any Iranians were taking part in the fighting alongside...