As I understand it, the main problem in the Mid-East is the schism in the Islamic faith that occurred sometime in the middle of the 7th century AD. At that point in time Islam separated into the Shia and Sunni denominations. The division was not equal; the Sunni are in the majority so far as population is concerned but not necessarily in enthusiasm. Now, all of the major religions have experienced schisms of one sort or another during their history and some of them have generated a period of violence, but Islam has been, by far, the most aggressive and persistent in prosecuting the differences. Like all religious denominations, each has its own fanatics, and that further complicates one’s ability to understand the issues. Be that as it may, if the schism is indeed the cause of all the troubles in the Middle East, it would seem to me that Americans should have at least some idea of what the specific problems are and what course of action our government should take.
One of my favorite pastimes is conducting my own surveys while riding the bus or at the fogies meeting for morning coffee at the mall food court. When the subject of ISIS is brought up I always ask, “Is ISIS Sunni or Shia?” According to my notebook I have ask 48 people that question thus far in the last 3 weeks and only two have answered correctly. (Oddly enough both correct responses were from the feminine gender). A little over 10% gave me a quick look, then just ignore the question altogether. The response I got most often is “Wha..?” accompanied by a blank look. My favorite response was, “What the fuck is a Sunny?” If the conflict in the Middle East is primarily one between Sunni and Shia, shouldn’t we know which one the U.S. is supporting and why, or should we just admit we don’t know enough to make an intelligent decision and get the hell out of the area all together?
I know I’m supposed to care about Iran developing an atomic weapon and perhaps I’m just naive, but I really don’t give a shit. Only one nation has ever used an atomic bomb against an enemy and the Iranians are not crazy. I know I am supposed to be opposed to ISIS establishing an Islamic State in the area. Again, I could care less. The U.S. spent in the neighborhood of 20 billion (that’s billion with a B) training and equipping the Iraqi Army so if ISIS is a national threat to Iraq, let their Army handle the problem. If it’s decided the Iraqi Army is incompetent, perhaps we should hold the people who supposedly trained them responsible, you know, with investigations and congressional hearings. Or will we finally realize that no matter what you do, you can’t train an army who will be willing to fight and die for a corrupt rotten government. (Think, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq.)
As I say, perhaps I’m just naïve and someone with a better understanding of the situation than I (and there are a lot of those out there) will enlighten me, and set me on the path to becoming a real patriotic red-blooded All American Boy and embrace the positions I'm suppose to.
In a lighter vain
A guy walks into a bar in the early afternoon and orders a beer. There are no other customers so he says to the bartender, “Let’s talk about weapons of mass destruction”. The bartender says, “Alright, but first I would like to give you a test.”
The customer says, “Okay.”
The bartender says, “Chicken dung is black and white and looks like two worms having intercourse, cow dung is light brown and makes a pat like a pancake when it’s expelled, and equine dung is dark brown and comes in muffin shapes. Why is that?
The customer says, “I have no idea.”
And the bartender says, “Gee mister, you don’t know shit, but you want to talk about weapons of mass destruction?”