Siding with the Saudis against Iran. “‘US fighter jets attack Yemeni fighters,’” from PressTV, December 14: US fighter jets have attacked Yemen’s Sa’ada Province, Houthi fighters say. Yemen’s Houthi fighters say the US fighter jets have launched 28 attacks on the northwestern province of Sa’ada. The US has used modern fighter jets and bombers in […]
Fitzgerald: Yemen, and What to Think About It
If you have been paying attention – and even if you have not – by now you know that something is going on in Yemen. You have heard about the “Houthis” – that is, a group of Shi’a, who have named themselves after a leader of one of their tribes, and who live in the […]
Shi’ite jihadists murder two Yemeni soldiers
Sunni/Shi’ite Jihad Update from Yemen. The Shi’ites have backing from Iran. “Two Yemeni Soldiers Killed In Ambush In South,” from Reuters, October 25 (thanks to Maxwell): ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) – Two Yemeni soldiers were killed and three others wounded in an ambush by gunmen in the south, where separatist sentiment is running high, a local […]
Yemeni military bombs hospital, killing 44 Shi’ites
The Shi’ites say they were innocent civilians. The government says they were Shi’ite rebels hiding out in the hospital. There is no way to tell who is telling the truth. “War is deceit,” after all. Sunni/Shi’ite Jihad Update: “Yemen says soldiers kill 44 Shiite rebels in air attacks near Saudi border,” by Ahmed Al-Haj for […]
Sunnis Say Iraq Vote Was Fraudulent
I am shocked! — shocked! — that there would be allegations of vote fraud from Sunnis in Iraq. This underscores the little-noted fact that there is little trust and virtually no common group identity among the various groups identified as “Iraqis.” From AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist: BAGHDAD, Iraq – Sunni Arabs alleged […]
No, not the shoes!
Why would Shi’ites attack Allawi? Why would they pelt him with shoes (a “sign of contempt in Iraqi culture”)? These are questions that you folks in the State Department should be eager and ready to answer. Extra credit if you can explain why there would be so much hostility among Iraqis to the very idea […]
Iraqis Probe ‘Unusually High’ Yes Tally
Gee, you don’t think anybody would have cheated, do you? Of course not. These are people to whom deception and dishonesty are anathema, right? What’s that? Anti-democratic pro-Sharia elements? Large-scale disrepect for the very idea of democracy? What are you, some kind of Islamophobe? From AP: BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s election commission announced Monday that […]
Saudi Arabia fears Iranian encroachment
The House of Saud has always feared – above all other threats – an expansionist Iran. The Iranian revolution in 1979 sent the Saudi monarchy into a panic, mostly stemming from their eternal mistrust of their native Shi’ite minority, which is the majority population of the oil-rich Hasa province. All throughout the 1980s, the two […]
After Iraq attacks, calls for militias grow
At least 22 Iraqis were killed by four suicide bombs Sunday, a day after more than 90 died in an attack. From the Christian Science Monitor. BAGHDAD — A devastating blast south of Baghdad, the latest in a series of suicide attacks aimed at undermining Iraq’s US-mentored political process, has raised the temperature between Sunni […]
Pakistan: Two held for planning to attack mosque
From Gulf News, with thanks to Skeet Street. Karachi – Police arrested two youth outside the US Consulate in Karachi yesterday following a terror alert that suicide bombers planned to attack a Shiite mosque, officials said. The two suspects Asim and Nasir Ali tried to dodge a police picket metres away from the consulate, but […]