Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
They're already at war. Yemen and Syria to a lesser degree are proxy wars between these two. ISIS and rebels are side conflicts. I seriously doubt there will be a direct conflict between the two. For all of their US supplied weapons Arabs countries don't have the stomach or military culture to effectively wage war, and Iran doesn't have the equipment and training.
That's why improving relations with Iran is such a big deal. There will be a time when either SA collapses or their terrorism spreading activities no longer makes them tenable as an ally. As bad as the House of Saud is, whatever replaces them will be far, far more conservative and tyrannically religious. The President seems to realize this so opening up relations with Iran, so eventually moving them out of the Russian sphere while deescalating their ability to fund Hezbollah (through engagement in Syria) is a huge long-term goal.
If these two countries decide to go to war over the execution of a Shiite cleric, which side would you support and would you support US military involvement? Personally, I'd say withdraw all USA personnel from the region and let them fight. Don't support either country. To me they're both equally bad. Such a war could draw Muslim terrorist to one side or the other depending on their nationality and Muslim sect. The real loser in such a war is the Arabian Gulf and the local area environment. Kuwait and Iraq could be caught in the middle.
Obama would support Iran and Americans would likely support the Saudis.
You can't have Mecca become the possession of radical Islam completely.
That said Islam needs to self reform or go away, we can't tolerate a world wide death cult that is ordered by its faith in modern times to conquer or kill all unlike them.
i have mixed feelings about this, iran is not exactly and up and up state, but then neither is saudi arabia. at this point we should stay out of any war that happens between these countries, unless it actually threatens our interests in the region. and then at best we should just work to keep the conflict contained as much as possible.
i have mixed feelings about this, iran is not exactly and up and up state, but then neither is saudi arabia. at this point we should stay out of any war that happens between these countries, unless it actually threatens our interests in the region. and then at best we should just work to keep the conflict contained as much as possible.
The First split in the Muslim faith between Sunni and Shiite occurred in 680 when they fought a bloody battle in Karbala. They are still fighting that battle today. It was less than 30 years ago that the Mideast had it's longest sectarian war between Sunni controlled Iraq and Shiite controlled Iran. It lasted 8 years and took 2.4 million lives.
It is a blessing in disguise that Obama made a deal with Shiite Iran along with the other 6 nations. Before then we were perceived as firmly in the camp of the Sunni. after the deal we are seen to be neutral by the powers in the ME, Willing to deal with Sunni, led by Saudi Arabia and Shiite, led by Iran.
Let's keep it that way.
America has nothing to gain by choosing sides in this conflict. 1400 years ago it started and it looks like it has 1400 more years to go before resolution.
It really goes back further than that, Persia has been trying to be the dominant power in the Middle East since 600 BC. They just had the Greeks and the Romans to fight with hundreds of years after they conquered Egypt, Babylonia, and Asia Minor the first time. The Arab/Persia divide wasn't even necessarily about Sunni/Shiite conflicts until the 16th Century when the Safavids adopted Shia Islam(though at that point they were feuding with the Ottoman Turks). It's just like how China ends up projecting it's power and influence in Southeast Asia or invading Vietnam again and again in history.
Persia/Iran is always going to be going west to project their own power and they'll always be coming to head with other powers in the Levantine and Persian Gulf and likewise aren't going to trust the dominant powers in the Middle East whoever it is(US, Saudis, Turks, etc.).
Last edited by CanuckInPortland; 01-06-2016 at 01:25 PM..
If these two countries decide to go to war over the execution of a Shiite cleric, which side would you support and would you support US military involvement? Personally, I'd say withdraw all USA personnel from the region and let them fight. Don't support either country. To me they're both equally bad. Such a war could draw Muslim terrorist to one side or the other depending on their nationality and Muslim sect. The real loser in such a war is the Arabian Gulf and the local area environment. Kuwait and Iraq could be caught in the middle.
Best Case Scenario.. They both unleash Nukes that half fall short and turn Iraq into a glass plate and the ones that make it eliminate SA and Iran..
Quote:
Originally Posted by victimofGM
If these two countries decide to go to war over the execution of a Shiite cleric, which side would you support and would you support US military involvement? Personally, I'd say withdraw all USA personnel from the region and let them fight. Don't support either country. To me they're both equally bad. Such a war could draw Muslim terrorist to one side or the other depending on their nationality and Muslim sect. The real loser in such a war is the Arabian Gulf and the local area environment. Kuwait and Iraq could be caught in the middle.
Support neither country, but threaten full sanctions on any country that joins in the war on either side. The last thing we need is Russia supporting Iran or this becoming a whole regional war causing further regional destabilization. If that happens Isis will be given even more free reign and they are the only real threat to the US.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
