Posted on 12/18/2009 1:58:41 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The 30th summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, meeting in Kuwait this week, expressed its solidarity with Saudi Arabia in its fight with the Shi'ite Houthi rebels in northern Yemen. The Kuwaiti emir noted that Saudi Arabia is facing "flagrant aggression that targets its sovereignty and security by those who have infiltrated its territory."
The formerly little-noticed conflict between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government is now taking on the coloration of an additional hot front in an ongoing region-wide cold war. The conflict in northern Yemen reveals the ongoing Iranian regional effort to convert Shi'ite populations into assets enabling it to apply pressure on neighbors and rivals.
The Arab response, meanwhile, shows the very great trepidation felt by the Gulf Arabs in the face of Iranian regional ambitions and expansion.
The term "Houthi rebels" refers to members of the Houthi clan, who have been engaged in an insurrection against the government of Yemen in the Saada district in the north of the country since 2004. The Houthis are members of the Zaidi Shi'ite sect of Islam. (Zaidi Shi'ites venerate the first four Imams of Islam, in contrast to the Twelver Shi'ites dominant in Iran). Led by Abd al-Malik el-Houthi, the rebels are fighting to bring down the government of President Ali Abdallah Saleh, which they regard as too pro-Western.
Thousands on both sides have died in the rebellion. The fighting includes the use by both sides of tanks and armored personnel carriers. It has resulted in the displacement of around 150,000 people.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...
Thats correct.
” Saudi Arabia is facing “flagrant aggression that targets its sovereignty and security “
GOOD DEAL,
Hope it spreads and engulfs the “royals”,
Love to see a knock down drag out between Iran and Saudi Arabia. In other words Like to see them kill each other.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Are you talking about Russell Crowe?
Can some one explain the differences between Sunni, Shia and other divisions and what the issues are?
The basic difference between the Sunnis and Shi’ites stems from a disagreement over who should be the successor to Muhammad, aka the caliph. Sunnis believed any devout male Muslim would do, but the Shi’ites believed only a descendent of Muhammad was eligible. Specifically they had Ali, Muhammad’s cousin & son-in-law, in mind. His supporters were called the Shi’at Ali (Party of Ali). Each group had their followers—the Sunnis had much more—and they split, went their separate ways, and kill each other whenever they get the chance.
There are some minor differences in practice, for example Sunnis only pay 2% of their income to the poor, whereas Shi’ites pay 20%, and the Shi’a have some different holidays. But the main point of disagreement is over the caliph issue.
The caliphs were all Sunnis, but the Shi’a had their own leaders, called imams. The “missing” 12th imam is who most Shi’ites believe is the “Mahdi” who will come and kill all the infidels and save the world at the end of time. Some Shi’ites believe the Mahdi is a different imam, i.e. the fifth, the seventh...depends on who you ask.
Sunnis are less divided, and the largest non-mainstream sect of Sunni Islam is the Wahhabis, also called Salafis. The word comes from aslaaf, which means ancestors or predecessors, because it is their predecessors (i.e. Muhammad and his cohorts and the first few “rightly guided” caliphs) whom they revere. They want to go back in time to this sort of puritannical, uber-orthodox, unthreatened Islam. Most Sunni terrorist groups are Wahhabi.
All this infighting is over a 1400 year-old disagreement over who could fill a position that no longer exists. Sad, isn’t it.
Many thanks.
Arabs Unite In Yemen Against Iran
Strategy Page | December 16, 2009
Posted on 12/18/2009 1:14:39 AM PST by myknowledge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2410231/posts
He wouldn’t be so wild if the West did not grovel before him. I bet that old Ishmael is not very wild in China because he knows he’ll get his a$$ handed to him.
A Look at Iran
http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html
I guess all those 150,000 refugees will be kept in camps for three of four generations, awaiting their “right of return” to Yemen. Oh, wait. That only happens to “Palestinian” refugees. Everyone else is allowed to settle into new homes, find new jobs, and make new friends.
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