"The Sunni/Sh'ia divide, portrayed as a religious conflict, is actually an economic conflict. Caliphs who centralized rule of each of the two Muslim sects no longer exist as temporal leaders, and only spiritual Imams determine divisions. Differences between the two Muslim groups on Mohammad's succession, Muslim prayer and Koran interpretation incite resentment between Muslim's extreme religious leaders, but are not sufficiently significant for many of the 1.2 billion Muslims to waste their time and energy in futile battles. A Sunni Muslim is defined by adherence to the five pillars of Islam. Sh'ia Muslims follow similar principals and are therefore 'fellow' Muslims. The masses of Islam are no different than the masses of Protestants who don't care to whom and how their neighbor prays."
"Similar to Northern Ireland, where Irish Catholics protested against their second class citizenship and economic persecution by English Protestants, the deprived Sh'ia minorities (majority in Bahrain) legitimately protest their economic subservience. Hezbollah has led the venture to achieve Sh'ia equality in Lebanon, and due to their efforts, despite western propaganda, Lebanon is evolving to a more democratic, egalitarian and stable state. Anti-Shiitism is one of the most punishing of the anti-isms and is aggravated by a western world, which excuses nefarious policies by its preferences. Recognition of the rights of the Sh'ia will diminish the Sunni/Sh'ia divide."
(3) Stop treating Iran as a cause of friction and solicit its support. Its religious extremism and internal politics don't please western democracies, but Iran is much more tolerant than Saudi Arabia and much more democratic than almost all other Arab nations.
Iran's principal negative quality is its fundamentalist government. The government doesn't sit well with its own people or with the world community, and its retrograde nature serves to make U.S. actions seem credible. Despite U.S. State Department rhetoric, Iran has no detrimental effect on the U.S. domestic economy or legitimate U.S. overseas interests - just the opposite - both Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai have been quoted that Iran is a positive force in their countries.
"Why doesn't the U.S., which is concerned with nations in which U.S. troops battle, acknowledge that Iran can contribute to Middle East stability? The reason is simple. The U.S. poses the fundamentalist Iranian government, which is much less fundamentalist than the Saudi Arabian government, as a threat to Middle East peace and to western civilization. These threats must be countered, and the U.S. has volunteered to counter it. This altruism permits the U.S. to have a fleet in the Persian Gulf and burgeoning military bases in Iraq."
The U.S. Administration's Secret Love for Iran, Alternative Insight, October, 2007
Iran cannot possibly use a nuclear weapon for offensive purposes nor does it have any reason to do that. The Mullahs have never attacked any country. By mutual cooperation with Iran, the Afghan and Iraq problems probably could be greatly reduced, if not resolved.
The irrepressible and enigmatic President. Ahmadinejad might have actually gotten it correct: "Today the defense of Iran is identical with the defense of the existence of humanity."
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