Well in fairness, Russia has been pretty effective in battling ISIS and Al Qaeda in Syria. Russia's been doing that while our 'allies' like Saudi Arabia were funding & arming those terror groups in Syria. So, i know it's popular for Americans to demonize Russia, but it's really not the 'Boogeyman' they're making it out to be.
"Saudi Arabia is a classic straddling state. It combats Sunni extremism while at the same time nurturing it. They’re like a man holding a tiger by the ears. If the man lets go of the tiger, it will devour him.”
The Saudis are more afraid of Iran than they are of ISIS. Iran is Shiite. And ISIS, for all its evil, is Sunni.
...from the Saudi perspective a Sunni caliphate is far preferable to a Shiite Crescent that stretches from Iran to Lebanon."
Daniel Silva
Things have the potential to be different, now that we have a President who doesn't bow to the Saudi King.
Shiites can never defeat Sunnis. Their numbers are tiny compared to Sunni numbers. It's something like 90%-10%. There's just far more Sunnis in the world than there are Shiites. It's not even close.
But regardless, it's not our issue. It never has been. We need to scale things back bigtime in the Middle East. All our meddling over there is only gonna lead to more Americans being slaughtered.
"Shiites can never defeat Sunnis."
You bring that up.....why?
Because it's why the Saudis want the US to attack Iran. They're very angry about the rising influence of Shiite Iran in the region. But like i said, Shiites can't possibly win a war with the Sunnis. Only 10% of the world's Muslims are Shiites. They wouldn't stand a chance in a global conflict. And I don't wanna go to war to defend the Saudis regardless. I despise that country.
So you've never seen a minority rule a majority?
You should pick up a book once in a while.
Alawites are a case in point, and right in the region in question.
"Alawites make up just 10% to 15% of Syria’s population, and they are usually presented as fervent supporters of Mr. Assad."
Syria’s Alawites: The People Behind Assad
Hafez Assad, and his rise to power in Syria:
"Syria itself became a vast prison, a place where fax machines were outlawed and a misplaced word about the ruler would result in a trip to the Mezzeh, the notorious hilltop prison in western Damascus....controlled by the Alawites, as was the Syrian military.
Within a decade of his ascent however, much of the country's Sunni majority was no longer content to be ruled by an Alawite peasant from Qurdaha. Bombs exploded regularly in Damascus, and in June 1979 a member of the Muslim Brotherhood killed at least fifty Alawite cadets in the dining hall of the Aleppo military academy. A year later, Islamic militants hurled a pair of grenades at the ruler during a diplomatic function....[Assad's brother] declared all-out war on the Brotherhood and its Sunni Muslim supporters....eight hundred political prisoners were slaughtered in their cells."
Daniel Silva
