06-27-2017, 06:27 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-27-2017, 05:21 PM by John J. Xenakis.)
Dear Mike,
Well, one thing to remember is that few Americans, have any clue
what "Sunni vs Shia" means. Prior to 9/11, almost no one had even
heard of the two sects. In 2006, I wrote an article quoting
the Congressional Quarterly and the London Times that the
so-called "Mideast experts" couldn't even answer a simple question,
like whether al-Qaeda was a Sunni or Shia organization.
** Guess what? British politicians and journalists are just as ignorant as Americans
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...m#e070114b
So American foreign policy is not based on anything so strategic
as you suggest, but rather on bilateral relations with individual
countries.
So let's start with Iran. The Shah of Iran was one of America's
closest allies in the Mideast. Then, in 1979, he was gone, and we had
the Iranian hostage crisis that lasted for years. And we've had for
decades a hardline government that repeatedly insults and threatens
the US and the West, and does so pretty much every day. America is
simply not going to have good relations with a country that behaves in
that way.
Next, Saudi Arabia. Since the 1930s, America and Saudi Arabia have
had a very specific core understanding: That Saudi Arabia will
guarantee to supply all the oil that America and the West need, and,
in return, America and the West must guarantee the security of
Saudi Arabia.
The exact details of the US-Saudi relationship have had to change from
time to time, based on international events such as Iran's revolution,
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the Iraq war, the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan, Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, Syria's civil war, the
rise of ISIS.
While the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis and subsequent Iranian behavior
drove a wedge between the US and Iran, the 1973 oil embargo, which
came out of Israel's war with Egypt, did the opposite -- it cemented
the US-Saudi relationship.
The core has always remained the same: The Saudis will guarantee oil,
the Americans will guarantee security. For Americans, this has
absolutely nothing to do with Sunni vs Shia fault line, which
Washington doesn't understand anyway, although, ironically, the
Shia-Sunni fault line is EVERYTHING to the two countries discussed
here, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
(06-26-2017, 07:57 PM)Mikebert Wrote: > I have a question for you since you follow this stuff. Why do
> American administrations of both parties seem to see Saudi Arabia
> and the Sunnis as allies while Iran and the Shia are enemies? I
> know that Iran did the hostage crisis, but Saudi Arabia did the
> oil embargo, which I see as just as bad. And I know that the
> Iranian-supported Shiite group Hezbollah killed 241 Americans in
> Lebanon in 1983, but the Saudi-supported Sunni group al Qaeda
> killed 2996 Americans on 911. Since the 1980's Shiite groups have
> not targeted Americans AFAIK, while Sunni groups (e.g. ISIS and
> affiliates) continue to kill Americans and other Westerners. So
> why are we siding with the Sunnis? Why not do what Reagan did and
> play them off against each other?
Well, one thing to remember is that few Americans, have any clue
what "Sunni vs Shia" means. Prior to 9/11, almost no one had even
heard of the two sects. In 2006, I wrote an article quoting
the Congressional Quarterly and the London Times that the
so-called "Mideast experts" couldn't even answer a simple question,
like whether al-Qaeda was a Sunni or Shia organization.
** Guess what? British politicians and journalists are just as ignorant as Americans
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/pg/x...m#e070114b
So American foreign policy is not based on anything so strategic
as you suggest, but rather on bilateral relations with individual
countries.
So let's start with Iran. The Shah of Iran was one of America's
closest allies in the Mideast. Then, in 1979, he was gone, and we had
the Iranian hostage crisis that lasted for years. And we've had for
decades a hardline government that repeatedly insults and threatens
the US and the West, and does so pretty much every day. America is
simply not going to have good relations with a country that behaves in
that way.
Next, Saudi Arabia. Since the 1930s, America and Saudi Arabia have
had a very specific core understanding: That Saudi Arabia will
guarantee to supply all the oil that America and the West need, and,
in return, America and the West must guarantee the security of
Saudi Arabia.
The exact details of the US-Saudi relationship have had to change from
time to time, based on international events such as Iran's revolution,
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the Iraq war, the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan, Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, Syria's civil war, the
rise of ISIS.
While the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis and subsequent Iranian behavior
drove a wedge between the US and Iran, the 1973 oil embargo, which
came out of Israel's war with Egypt, did the opposite -- it cemented
the US-Saudi relationship.
The core has always remained the same: The Saudis will guarantee oil,
the Americans will guarantee security. For Americans, this has
absolutely nothing to do with Sunni vs Shia fault line, which
Washington doesn't understand anyway, although, ironically, the
Shia-Sunni fault line is EVERYTHING to the two countries discussed
here, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
