Beginner's Guide to Muslims: Shia vs. Sunni

Cast of Characters

SHIA

Iran

Iraq

Assad/Alawite/Syria

Hezbollah

SUNNI

Egypt

Turkey

Saudi Arabia/Wahhabism

Afghanistan/Pashtun

Jordan/Hashemite

Qatar

Pakistan

Hussein/Ba'ath/Iraq (deposed)

Muslim Brotherhood/Qutbism

Hamas

Al-Qaeda

Mujahideen/Taliban

Haqqani Network

ISIL

Free Syrian Army

Indonesia (huh?)

Case #1: Wither Shia?

The scorecard is quite lopsided. Indeed, 90% of all Muslims worldwide are Sunni. However, do not be misled by this numeric disparity. Both groups are quite dangerous and do their share of evil (from a Judeo-Christian viewpoint) in this world.

Case #2: the Parking Lot

There was a historic building in Saudi Arabia associated with a family member of Mohammed, making it sacred for Shiites. Recently, it was unceremoniously razed to the ground and a parking lot built on top. Why? Because Saudi Arabia is Sunni, making the structure more useful as a parking lot.

Case #3: ISIL

Having their origin in Syria, this one is now sweeping across Iraq with all manner of horrors I would rather not repeat. Yet, many Arab countries are sitting on the hands. Can you guess why? ISIL is Sunni, and Iraq is Shia. There are rumors that major Sunni powers are supporting them, among them Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. They seem to have no qualms about Sunnis stomping on a Shia country.

Case #4: Tehran vs. Riyadh

The former is the main player for Shia, the latter likewise for Sunni. Every time you hear of Muslim on Muslim violence, keep this dichotomy in mind.

Case #5: Kill the Apostates

In the New Testament, there is only one unforgivable sin: apostasy. Likewise for Islam: both schools of thought view the other as apostates, which is why they direct more violence towards each other to us, who are merely unbelievers.

Case #6: Not All Pashtuns are Taliban

The reason the Taliban will never really be defeated is that its genesis is in the native Pashtun population. So, all Taliban are Pashtun, but not all Pashtun are Taliban. In fact, Taliban often point their violence at other Pashtun.

Case #7: Taliban & Al-Qaeda

Sloppy thinking tends to equate these 2. Not so. The former seek to overtake Pakistan and Afghanistan. The latter are funded by Tehran and seek to export their terror internationally. They have franchises in several countries.

Case #8: Taliban Also Threatens Pakistan

One of the major sources of support of the Taliban are sympathetic elements in Pakistani military and intelligence agencies. Ironically, if Pakistan falls, it will be from a Taliban insurgency.

Case #9: “Qu'ran”?

In fact it translates as read or recite. Muslim and Islam translate as surrender or obedience, i.e. to Allah. None of these words translates as peace, unless you mean the tranquility of simply following the will of Allah (who is not peaceful in the Western sense).

Case #10: Takfiri?

It is an important concept to understand, and translates as apostate, which is different from nonbeliever. If you study it, more violence occurs Muslim against Muslim, rather than Muslim against the West. The 2 schools of Islam view each other as apostates.

Case #11: Islam Will Never Conquer Christianity or Judaism

In the same way that the reverse is also true. However, Muslims, like any other religion, requires a bogeyman. Judeo-Christianity serves the purpose for Islam.

Case #12: Islamic Culture is NOT Arabic Culture

Arabic culture is as old as Western culture. The recent trend of extremist terrorism (Jihad, Sharia law, suicide bombing) only dates back a century. The genesis was that of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1920's in Egypt. There are many places where you can experience Arab hospitality dating back centuries/millenia unrelated to violent Islam.

Case #13: the US Really is At Fault for the Mess in Iraq

No, I am not referring to the original decision to invade. When you topple a government, you must have a blueprint as to what will happen next: the central, ruling authority will not regenerate spontaneously. In this sense, the President was poorly served by his advisors (Rice, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld). This was an even greater tragedy since he trusts them. The first administrator was Garner: he seemed to understand that water, sewage, electricity, and garbage pickup come first. Conversely, there was chaos and it seemed as if no one was in charge. Next came Bremmer, and things got worse. He made 3 mistakes: disbanding the police and army, not immediately installing the opposition leaders to start picking up the pieces, and repeatedly delaying elections. I heard his justifications, but I still think he made the wrong decisions.

Islamic Civil War—the Next Generation

The conflict between these two schools of thought will continue into the future: both near and far. True democracy simply is not in the cards for a country whose culture is Muslim. The thought that the US, UN, NATO, or Israel can do anything to change this is not reasonable. The internecine killings must stop. That means a gathering of the major forces, regardless of what “the West” thinks of them. Yes, it will result in an ugly patchwork quilt distasteful in our eyes. Get the hospitals, electricity, sewage systems, water supply, and agriculture working again, then we can talk about democracy. Until the killings have stopped and peoples' bellies are full, democracy has no chance.

By now, you should be confused with a gigantic headache. If not, then you are not paying attention. Unless you understand that Western and Arabic culture are different, and that superimposing one over the other will never work, you have no hope of understanding. On the flip side of the coin, yes: I am speaking whereof I often do not really know. Mountains of scholarly books have been written by authors with first hand experience. If any of this seems interesting, I encourage you to seek them out.  

In Defense of Ukraine against Russia

Ruble Collapses: Whither Russia?

Well, well, well. The price of oil/natural gas has collapsed. This is bad news for any oil producing country, but Russia is especially vulnerable. A large portion of her government budget is funded by them. That is why the Ruble has plummeted. The national budget, not to mention the Russian economy, is in for a world of hurt.

The Ukraine Army Has Been Destroyed

To say that the Ukraine military is of modest size is to be generous. What little of it there was, has been wiped out by a rather small Russian force. This seems to be little known.

NATO Has No Intention to Dismantle Russia

There are some opinions that the EU and NATO are trying to surround and isolate Russia: at best a half-truth. The EU is always trying to expand membership to all European countries, including former Warsaw Pact ones, but not all of them qualify. They are not singling out ones that adjacent to Russia. NATO is indeed moving some military assets up against the Russian border, but this happened after Russia invaded Crimea. Putin should acquaint himself with Newton's Third Law of Motion.

It's Not Ukraine or Russia, It's Putin

That a diplomatic solution has not been found is rather disappointing. This will not occur until both sides holster their six-shooters, share a bottle of vodka, and talk things out. Yes, Brussels and Washington also have a role to play, but Putin would rather show-off his machismo. Unless he and his henchmen fall out of power, it is difficult to see how a solution can be fashioned. For example, he thinks that it is his right to “take back” Crimea.

Ukraine Citizens Should Be Allowed to Choose for Themselves

Hearing opinions that outside forces should be allowed to dictate as to what the constitution, national boundaries, states, parliament membership, and government structure should be, is rather disquieting. They have already had elections, and opinions that these are not legitimate are even worse.

Ukraine vs. Russia War—the Next Generation

The only predictable thing about politics, diplomacy, and war is that they are unpredictable. One ought to be very skeptical of anyone telling you how things are going to work out or that the only solution is this or that. Already, the war has taken a couple of unexpected twists and turns, and this is unlikely to change anytime soon.

Equality is Different from Liberty

I usually equate these two words as both sides of the same coin, but I wonder. I read a book review of Our Declaration: a Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality in the 9/22/14 issue of National Review.

The problem lies how the principle of “equality” is defined. It certainly does not mean equality of wealth, knocking out the legs of our progressive income tax. It does not mean equality of outcome in our lives, therefore canceling out the justification for welfare and transfer payments of various types. To others, it means equality of opportunity, which is very much different.

Liberty, however, has a rather concrete definition. We can live our lives as we wish, which means limited government power. We can choose whatever type of light bulb and toilet we want. We can be as careful or reckless as we wish. We can eat as much unhealthy food as desired.

I have always thought of “liberty” and “equality” in the same sentence. My thinking has changed: these 2 principles are entirely different, and have nothing to do with each other.