Five Root Causes of Current Conflict in Middle East

After chemical attacks by the Assad regime against Syrian Sunni Moslems, there is talk of the US intervening militarily in Syria.

The Middle East effects the US and Israel. This column will give TJP readers a weekly analysis of current events in that region.

In my opinion, there are five root causes of the current conflicts in the region.

1. The Sunni-Shiite Split:  (Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Lebanon) After Muhammad’s death in 632 CE. There was a dispute whether the next leader (Caliph) should be a blood relative (his cousin Ali) or a non-related “companion”. This conflict led to a permanent split in Islam between the “Ali Faction” (“Shiiat Ali”) and the “Sunnah” (“Pathway” of Muhammad). They have been fighting bitterly ever since. Today 80-90% of the world’s Moslems are Sunni, with 10-20% Shiite. The Shiites, persecuted for 1400 years, believe that when Iran has nuclear weapons, they will dominate.
2. The radicalization of Sunnis: (Egypt, Bahrain, Turkey, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.). With the establishment of Wahhabism in Arabia in the 18th century and the founding of the fundamentalist Moslem Brotherhood (MB) in 1928, many in the Sunni denomination became entrenched in an “Islam is the solution” ideology that rejects Western values and cultures as anti-Islamic satanic temptations to be opposed and defeated. The MB rejects the very concept of statehood, having two declared goals:
a. That the world follows strict Sharia (Islamic) law.
b. The reestablishment of a worldwide Caliphate, replacing today’s states, countries and political systems.
3. The creation of artificial countries after WW1: 90% of the countries in the Middle East today did not exist before 1920. The victors carved the defeated Ottoman Empire into political states, without consideration of the ethnic, religious, tribal, language, cultural or historic relations between different peoples, tribes and clans caught within the new boundaries. The created states include: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Lebanon, Egypt, UAE, Syria, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Sudan and Algeria.  Military dictators ruled these countries, maintaining stability, relations with the West, growing economies and security. They persecuted opposition, mainly from the MB and Islamist groups that opposed their ties to the US as abhorrent to Islam.  But then came…
4. The “Arab Spring”:  Lauded throughout the world the, wide-spread demonstrations toppled the pro-West dictators and brought democratic elections. Unfortunately in virtually every country the party that was elected represented the best organized religious organization: The MB.  Today in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan and Morocco we see the backlash to those elections.
5. “Desert Culture”: For millennia the peoples of the Middle East have lived under an accepted social and legal code that evolved from living in the desert.   Concepts of “honor”, “dignity”, “respect”, “trust”, “credibility” and especially “blood revenge” are integral parts of life. The Ottoman Turks conducted their empire accordingly. The Israelis respect the “law of the desert”.

With the US and Europe getting involved in Syria, they would be wise to remember these root causes of the conflicts.

Agree or disagree – that’s my opinion.