Prime Junta
RPGCodex' Little BRO
- Joined
- October 19, 2006
- Messages
- 8,540
Thanks very much Prime J. I realize it's an over-simplification, but let's face it--without some basic education like this, the complexities of the discussion are way over the heads of most Americans, including me. (It took me twenty minutes of close reading to begin to pigeonhole the facts of your article with the "simple" breakdown of the personalities and factions in Lebanon, and then I needed aspirin and a lay-down.) I was concerned that in over-simplifying, accuracy would be glossed over, so thanks for your examples of such.
Well, it was, but that's inevitable. As I said, all in all it was about as good as you could do in something as condensed as that.
I was primarily thinking of this in terms of an introduction for people who know almost nothing about the area. It's hard to believe that after 5 years of our involvement, this is the first mainstream media presentation of its kind that I've seen. (And I would say the only reason its out there now is due to a) the election and b) the Bush/McSame/Obama appeasement/negotiation flap.)
Very likely, and I find it hard to believe that this is an accident.
To you the Shia/Sunni table may seem elementary, but the terms are used and heard over here without many people having even a remote clue what they signify--my own impression before my partial education on this board, was that it was a cleft in Islam similar to the Catholic and Protestant one in Christianity and why don't they just get over it (which I suppose to some extent it is, but talk about over-simplifying/misidentifying...) but of course, if you don't understand the history, you aren't going to get it.
The Shi'a/Sunni table has to be elementary; that's not the problem. The thing is that it didn't IMO really communicate why the two groups are still so much at odds. That was mentioned in the main presentation, though.
So we're in effect supporting an Iran-oriented government with an Iran-trained army as our choice, and simultaneously saber-rattling at Iran like a drunken cicada in springtime? Somehow this doesn't seem productive...or even logical.
More or less. That's also one reason the Iranians don't take you terribly seriously -- they know they've got you by the short-n-curlies in so many ways it's almost (but not quite) not even funny. The Middle East is like that, with all those overlapping identities and loyalties. If you're not very careful, you'll end up in bed with some rather strange people. (For example, I've always thought that if you absolutely have to support an oppressive government in the Middle East, a secularist dictator like Saddam or Bashar would seem a more logical choice than a theocratic king like Abdullah al Saud.)
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2006
- Messages
- 8,540