BLACKFIVE: Islamic civil war- Secular moderates v. Islamists

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Islamic civil war- Secular moderates v. Islamists

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Yesterday I proposed a grand alliance to save Palestine, which involved raising the stakes by having Israel and the US lead in legitimizing Fatah and marginalizing Hamas to Gaza where they may well consume themselves. This seems to be actual US policy and with some backing from Old Europe and even Egypt and other moderate Arab states. Nobody really wants Hamas running things elections be damned.

What next is a darn good question, and I want to take a look at putting all our chips in. It might just be time for an Islamic civil war.

Just what we need you say, Sunni fighting Shia all over the world. Hold on, I am not thinking Sunni/Shia as the split, I'm talking Secular v. Islamist. That is the real test, does the bulk of the Muslim Ummah really prefer to live in peace with their neighbors or do the Islamists represent the true faith and Sharia the Law.

The Iranians have opened a new era in Islamic fundamentalism that transcends the Sunni Shia beef about Mohammed's successor. They fund both sect's terror wings in Iraq and with Shia Hezbollah as one proxy army on Israel's border and now Sunni Hamas as another, it is time to consider our response to Islamist Caliphate-building. The extremists are relentless and seem to be ascendent in many areas, what about all of those moderate Muslims what are they doing, and do they see the situation the same way?

There are signs that they do, such as the support of Egypt and others I mentioned above, but does it rise to a level that they would side with us against their own? That is a very high bar but the threat posed by an Iranian hegemony over Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Hamastan is weighing heavy on the minds of oil-rich, westernized Arabs around the Middle East. Now I hate to go all Real Politik, but......there is zero chance of liberal democracy and peace in the region under the iron sandal of the Mullahs, so better the autocrats, tyrants and corrupt royalty we know.

If we can frame the conflict in Palestine as secular moderate Fatah with the support of moderate Arab states and the US v. Islamist extremist Hamas, a client of Iran and part of the larger Iranian take over of the region we may have the grounds for a Grand Alliance. For the US the opportunities are huge. An alliance with moderate Sunnis in Egypt and maybe Saudi Arabia based on getting the Palestinians a state could also be tremendous help in moderating the Sunnis in Iraq. Not to mention that both of these initiatives frustrate Iranian efforts as well.

Islamists have determined that their inter-faith disputes are less important than their desire to live in a religious paradise. Both Sunni and Shia extremists share the goal of co-opting or capturing power in the heart of the Middle East. It's time for everyone who thinks that's an awful idea to get in the game.