A very quick clarification
To the Shia, the Caliph is the heir to Mohammed in matters political and religious. To the Sunni, the Caliph was only the heir in matters political as there can be no heir in religious matters. The Shia view the Imam as a guide who conitinues to lead them in interpreting the Koran, the Sunni have ulema (a consensus of Islamic scholars) who provide the same sort of guidance. I don't think one can say that Sunni are inherently moderate as the Taliban and Al Quaeda are Sunni. Only Iran has any significant Shia population. 90 percent of all Muslims are Sunni and the reform minded young Iranians are Shia. The point I was trying to make is that the western concept of fundamentalism does not apply to Islam. We have to look at the issues in their complexity and not assign our concepts and assumptions to the religion. Many of them are not even aware of the differences between them and the Shia and the Ayatollah Khomeni himself said that no significant differences exist. Others say that the true divide is a Persian/Arab one, not Shia/Sunni.
The reports here about N. Korea must be the same. I haven't seen any local opinions about it. My understanding is that the French considered the test a failure, so that ought make it easier to ignore. The Bush administration's record of foreign policy is so inconsistent and full of rapid retreats that they have no credibility and where they have tried to be tough, they've proven to be little more than bluster. Maybe nobody believed the myth of American omnipotence more than the current administration. I have no more time, I hope this is not rife with grammatical errors. I'll write later.
The reports here about N. Korea must be the same. I haven't seen any local opinions about it. My understanding is that the French considered the test a failure, so that ought make it easier to ignore. The Bush administration's record of foreign policy is so inconsistent and full of rapid retreats that they have no credibility and where they have tried to be tough, they've proven to be little more than bluster. Maybe nobody believed the myth of American omnipotence more than the current administration. I have no more time, I hope this is not rife with grammatical errors. I'll write later.
posted by athensinternational at 5:24 PM
2 Comments:
60 % of the iraqi's are shia too, we're told. Would like to hear more about the dean and the changes in your situation as they develop. all there disasters and still a huge portion of the us supports Bush..its really sad afraid it will take a true disaster for things to really change.
True. I was in error to say that only Iran has a significant Shia population. The larger point is that only 10 percent of all the world's Muslims are Shia. Most of these live in Iran. The non-sequitar of the Bush policy in rebuilding the Iraqi society into some form of pro-Western democracy was that the majority of Iraqis (who would rule any known form of democracy) are Shia and would likely look to Tehran sooner than Washington or even Riyadh. Since Iran has been an arch villain, so far as America is concerned, this seemed a strange move on Washington's part and destined to backfire from the begining. The true problem seems to be that Washington can't even build a functioning government of any kind in Iraq. So, even if the US were successful in doing that, they would likely not have much of an ally in Baghdad, since they're unable to do even that, they have created a failed state so commonly considered the "breeding grounds" of terrorism.
Post a Comment
<< Home