Shiites, Sunnis and George Bush

Mac G is rolling with political commentary today. This article is a must read for every citizen no matter if you want to nuke the Mideast, impeach Cheney, or avoid the ballot box every first Tuesday in November like Rosie does a treadmill.(That is my last Rosie joke, well at least for the rest of June.)

Iraq is the biggest foreign policy disaster of our lifetime, period. While Islamic extremism still wants to kill the "West" and energizes in Pakistan, our precious blood and treasure keeps draining everyday in Iraq. 4 American soldiers and 100 Iraqis die every single day. The US Govt spends 256 million tax payers' dollars every day. EVERY Fn DAY! And with no end in sight.

The Neocons swirled up a hornets nest by invading Iraq and had no clue how to run the country after flatting Saddam's Army. Frontline had a PBS documentary on the half ass planning on part of the Bush Administration, Pentagon and the Defense Department.

Now our undermanned American troops are stuck policing a country the size of California, with little to zero Arabic speaking skills and no clue to the difference between the "good and bad" people. Our troops drive around everyday waiting to get blown up by IEDs or car bombs. Their reward is to have their tours extended, over and over. And if they are unfortunate enough to get injured, they are sent back to America to live in shit hole, rat infested conditions at the Walter Reed Medical Facility.

It is hard to see us "winning" when we do not have any idea who we are really fighting. There is no way to "win" an occupation. The worst problem is that our soldiers are in the middle of a bazillion year long civil war between the Shiites and Sunnis. I knew the 2 fractions hated each for eternity and it is hard for Americans to understand since our civilization here is minuscule in comparison. I just knew that they wanted to kill each other.

This article by Abbas Sand gives a historical insight into the conflict. It has been reported that GW Bush had no idea about 2 different sects of Islam only months before he ordered the Iraq invasion.

GW must have been at a 12 step meeting or Texas Rangers Spring training during the first Iraq war, when his FATHER was president!

After reading this, I hope you realize what a monumental ego hard on our leaders had to believe that USA was going to solve this conflict by military force without the world's support.

In dealing with the current problems of the Middle East, obviously it is quite important to understand the differences between Shiites and Sunnies. Furthermore, with the addition of the American presence, this situation has become more complicated. Unfortunately, there is very little in-depth analysis of this topic, leaving the impression that these are just a bunch of primitive people who just like to fight.

The conflicts and problems between Shiites and Sunnies are so deep, and the history is so long, that one can write volumes on the topic and only scratch the surface. This article is an attempt to give a historical overview of the problem itself, as well as, to discuss the additional complication caused by the United States presence in this region, and their decisions on how to conduct the war. My hope is that the reader would realize that the Sunni Shiite division is not a problem like Catholic Vs Protestant.

Shiites, Sunnis and George Bush
Frontline: The End Game
Bush Clueless on Arab World Before Iraq War
14 US Soldiers Die
Rat Hole Walter Reed