The Syrian Crisis

[Bilal]

Well china pakistan friendship is based on many other things,its more like a natural match,yes the shia sunni theory has a lot of gap i must say,like i cant explain,it is mind boggling,but the current world scenario is a complete mess,and no one person can be blamed,i say
i will agree with the shia=protestant
sunni=catholic but i will say that shias are not friends with either china or russia,they are only using them for the time being there only loyalty is iran
which is a very delicate scenario.
so i will say if war breaks out...china will dominate reasons why:
1.Population strength/military strength.
2.Years have put china ahead of usa in many ways now
china will decide the winner of the war also iran will most likely go alone,russia will realise its mistake and not be a part,
now the main game is here Assad is not exactly a shia he is an alwaite and iranians are ithna ashari,they are ideologically different,hezbollah is
itha ishari hence iran will only go with them assad is isolated.
we do live in a complex world!

 

[Himanshu Pandey]

let me tell you sunni and shia are two opposite side of the picture,i feel a sunni will hate a shia more than anyother enemy,likewise for shia.
iran and saudi arabia are fighting the oldest battle of mankind started in qudsia,it is arab vs persian.

first thing the oldest battle of man kind is not shia vs sunnia.. you see world has been few millions years old before islam came and humans too were something like 50000 years old when islam came. so please spare others with this oldest battle and other BS

Also ideologically speaking a sunni has much in common with the jews and christians,whereas a shia has much in common with chinese and russians hence iran has china russia on its side and saudi has israel and usa.

quite a siple view of things.. all comes to sunni vs shia or muslims vs kafirs... I wish only if things had been so simple ever.... once a wise man said.. being quiet is more intelligent then opening the mouth and let the people know the true value of yours... please fallow this advise.

 

[Bilal]

But i will maintain china is very strong now,maybe even more than usa,russia or europe,we have to say they worked there way to it and earned it.
The future is china,about shia sunni yes it is complex,even i get confused at times

 

[nrupatunga]

It's the Thirty Years' War all over again.

Shia = Protestant
Sunni = Catholic
Saudi Arabia = Spain
Iran = Sweden
Turkey = France
Iraq/Syria = poor, poor Germany

USA/Israel = Austria
Russia = Ottoman Empire

Sir, you had made same observation in post #2435

Catholic = Sunni
Protestant = Shia

Saudi Arabia = Spain
Egypt = France
The other gulf states = The small papal states

Iran = Sweden

Israel/USA = the Ottomans

Iraq/Syria/Libya = Germany/Netherlands/England

Though there some players were differently mentioned like, then ottomans were usa/israel but now ottomans are russia

Then as well i had asked you few Q in post #2440

As per your analogy, then spain lost influenece in europe, hence as per your analogy, would saudi (i.e. gcc) would loose influence in west asia?? Also sweden was a beneficiary of the war, so iran will benefit from the larger conflict??

Also netherlands won independence/curtailed spainish influence there, similarly syria will also curtail saudi influence in the region?? Also germany was made defunct i.e. decentralised. So iraq will split??

Also as per you, france=egypt. Am not sure egypt can retain/regain the importance it previously had on arab street. Its strategic importance is below gcc as of now.

Also one of the biggest outcome of the war was that both catholics and protestants did not fight any big wars later on. later wars (esp big ones) were more on nationalistic/ethnic ones. So this means no big ideology war in west asia after this?? How will the map of west asia look after this bigger war??

Though its a very interesting comparison, maybe players are assigned differently. But none the less a very interesting comparison.

So even now, you do feel that it maybe iran which will gain. Might very well be the case, lets see. Anyways please let us know why/how you have mapped players then to players now??

 

[JBH22]

But i will maintain china is very strong now,maybe even more than usa,russia or europe,we have to say they worked there way to it and earned it.
The future is china,about shia sunni yes it is complex,even i get confused at times

If i'm correct the logic is as follows Sunnis> Shia>Sufis> Ahmadiyyas, but where do salafist/wahabbism fits in?

 

[pmaitra]

If i'm correct the logic is as follows Sunnis> Shia>Sufis> Ahmadiyyas, but where do salafist/wahabbism fits in?

Salafi-Wahhabi>Sunnis>Shias>Sufis>Ahmadiyyas

This is my understanding. The greater-than sign refers to political and military power.

 

[Yusuf]

Salafi-Wahhabi>Sunnis>Shias>Sufis>Ahmadiyyas

This is my understanding. The greater-than sign refers to political and military power.

Wahabis, Ahmedias,Sufis,Salafis,Deobandis etc all belong to Sunni Islam.

 

[t_co]

Sir, you had made same observation in post #2435


Though there some players were differently mentioned like, then ottomans were usa/israel but now ottomans are russia

Then as well i had asked you few Q in post #2440


So even now, you do feel that it maybe iran which will gain. Might very well be the case, lets see. Anyways please let us know why/how you have mapped players then to players now??

Astute catch! Will respond in greater detail later... have mtgs to attend

 

[Compersion]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Madhhab_Map2.png

Muslim world - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A fascinating fact according to the above is that indian Kashmir is predominatly sunni with concentration of shia (Ismaili) and Pakistan occupied Kashmir is predominalty Shia (jafarai). What a irony.

Add to that according to precendent of Syria and Baharin - POK ought to be having a beautiful spring.

 

[pmaitra]

Wahabis, Ahmedias,Sufis,Salafis,Deobandis etc all belong to Sunni Islam.

Yes, from the theological perspective, you are right. I was talking about the political and military perspective.

From the political perspective Ahmadiyas (Pakistan) and Sufis (Timbuktoo) are not even Muslims.

Wahhabis are the people who believe in the teachings of al-Wahhab. They are Sunnis, yes, but not all Sunnis are Wahhabis. I think @SHURIDH gave a good example, where different Sunnis belong to different 'Madhav.'

 

[W.G.Ewald]

How To Destroy Syria's Chemical Weapons | TIME.com

 

[Bilal]

actually the salafis and the shias are fighting this war the vast majority the sunni dont really care.

 

[Armand2REP]

But i will maintain china is very strong now,maybe even more than usa,russia or europe,we have to say they worked there way to it and earned it.
The future is china,about shia sunni yes it is complex,even i get confused at times

Who says that?? China has sold its future just like Japan, only difference is they got old before they became rich.

 

[nrupatunga]

How would Syria's chemical weapons handover work?

The French government has estimated the arsenal at more than 1,000 tons. Assad is believed to possess sarin and its more persistent form VX, the nerve agent tabun, and blistering agents such as mustard, phosgene and hydrogen cyanide. It's believed to have large stores of "precursor chemicals" that it could use to create more of the toxic agents.

Syria has the ability to deliver chemical warheads about 300 miles, analysts believe.

The most likely choice is the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the multinational body that oversees implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Based at The Hague in the Netherlands, it was formed in 1997 and says it has verified the destruction of 80 percent of the world's declared stockpile through more than 5,000 inspections.

The Times of London reported that a previous plan drawn up by the Pentagon suggested that 75,000 troops would be needed on the ground to destroy up to 500 tons of chemical weapons. Given Syria's arsenal is thought to be double that, the operation could take as many as 150,000 troops to carry out.

De Bretton-Gordon said that rather than burning, degrading or burying the chemicals in Syria, it may be expedient to just move the weapons to a place where they can be dismantled in peace. Keeping them in place and trying to dismantle them in the middle of a civil war would be impractical, he said.

"It would be a big operation, it would need both the regime and the opposition to provide a cease-fire -- some arrangement of getting masses of international community troops in there would just not work," De Bretton-Gordon said. "We're talking about thousands and thousands of troops to protect this sort of thing, so it's got to be a cease-fire between the warring factions in Syria to allow, if that's what's decided, to allow movement of those chemicals to a safer area of Syria, where they can be destroyed or outside Syria."

Moscow, along with the U.S., has repeatedly missed deadlines for destroying their own arsenals in accordance with the convention.

So even if syrian regime agrees to give up on chemical stockpile, it will take huge amount of people and time to do it. So more or less strikes are off??

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Russia's 'carrier-killer' Moskva enters Mediterranean — RT News

Russia's Moskva missile cruiser, dubbed a "carrier-killer" by NATO, has passed through the Straits of Gibraltar and is now heading toward the eastern Mediterranean to assume command of the Russian naval force there.

The Russian Navy said in a statement that the Moskva cruiser passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on September 10.

 

[SajeevJino]

Does Anybody Tell me How many Russian Warships are Currently/within a month in Mediterranean

and the US Ships in Mediterranean and the Arabian Gulf

 

[SajeevJino]

Assad vows to hand over Syria's chemical weapons, US hold talks with Russia​

President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to hand over Syria's chemical weapons, but claims the threat of US military action did not bring about the political move.

Speaking to Russian television, Mr Assad said Syria would place its chemical weapons under foreign control in line with Moscow's proposal.

"Syria is handing over chemical weapons under international control because of Russia," Mr Assad was quoted as telling Rossiya 24 state news channel.

"US threats have not affected the decision," he said, adding that Syria planned to file documents to the United Nations to sign an agreement on chemical arms.

Mr Assad's move came as the US and Russia prepared to meet in Geneva for talks on the proposal for Syria to open its doors to inspectors and eliminate its chemical weapons.

Assad vows to hand over Syria's chemical weapons, US hold talks with Russia - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

[Himanshu Pandey]

the game of delays and diplomacy began... bad luck for al qayda and its brother rebels... soon going to get their 72 goats

 

[amoy]

Does Anybody Tell me How many Russian Warships are Currently/within a month in Mediterranean

and the US Ships in Mediterranean and the Arabian Gulf

It's reported of 11 altogether incl. Moscow of Russian warships in E. Med. now

Also - NYT: Putin's "A Plea for Caution from Russia"

 

[Ray]

Russia means business?