A Not-So-Civil War A-Brewin'?

If you think the skirmishes we're a part of in the Middle East are messy you haven't seen anything yet!  If it comes to fruition as many expect it will be more bloody than anything we've seen.  You see, those folks don't fight nice.

The war will be a continuation of the religious one that has been going on for centuries.  Shia versus Sunni. It's all about who the rightful successor of Mohammad. The Shia belief the Prophet designated his son-in-law as his successor, the Sunni do not.

Here's the problem.  Saudi is Sunni, Iran is Shia and they hate each other.  So Saudi executes an esteemed Shiite cleric along with 46 other "terrorists". Oops!  Not to mention the rather callous method of execution, beheading, carried out in public in a place known as Chop Chop Square. And we worry about condemned prisoner in this country being excited by lethal injection!  I can't say I'm crazy about that either, but that's another post.

Needless to say Shia Iran is furious. Everyone is re-calling their diplomats and unrest is escalating.  The problem is even though technically individual countries, both sects reside in most.  This makes war more complicated than usual.  Iran is helping Iraq against ISIS because they are Sunni and actually want the same thing, to be the power in the region.

Saudi fears a Shiite crescent that could run from Iran through Syria to the sea giving the strongest of them vast territory and power.

Okay, nice history lesson - of sorts.  The problem is two fold.  One, the relinquishing of our power has left our allies in the lurch.  Those who, however imperfect they may be, were staunch are no more. More important I fear that we are in a most untenable position for having made the nuclear "agreement" with Iran who will be getting billions of dollars to put to whatever use they so desire.  It won't be helping the poor nor cleaning up their version of Chop Chop Square!

With all of this going on, somehow I feel the name calling and sparring among candidates wanting Obama's job to be childish and non-productive.  I also fear that having a President as self-serving as Hillary would be totally ineffectual with these patriarchal countries who think of women more as property than people.

So the game has begun in earnest.  Just remember while the candidates are worrying about how many women Bill Clinton has had his way with questionable consent, there are those caught between Shia and Sunni who are being tortured and killed for the most odious of reasons.   This is the real war on women!

It is not our fight? It shouldn't be but a Republican set the stage and a Democrat dropped the curtain before the drama had the chance to play out. This whole fiasco needs a rewrite and since we started it we had best finish it.

That won't happen by playing the two sides against one another and hoping the audience (us) doesn't notice.