British-Orchestrated Sunni-Shi’ite Religious War Threatens Entire Southwest Asia Region
The Unhived Mind
British-Orchestrated Sunni-Shi’ite Religious War Threatens Entire Southwest Asia Region
June 16, 2014 • 3:57AM
http://larouchepac.com/node/31060
A reported weekend lull in the fighting in Iraq notwithstanding, the entire region of Southwest Asia continues to sink into the British Empire’s quicksand of Sunni-Shi’ite religious warfare. As the Washington Post put it succinctly (and cheerily): the situation in the region “is fast becoming a Sunni-Shi’ite war.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the carrier USS GHW Bush into the Persian Gulf, sparking speculation that the US is preparing to launch air strikes in support of the government in Baghdad. The movement prompted a warning from Tehran that foreign military intervention will only complicate the situation. Iranian President Rouhani did say, however, that Iran would be willing to aid the Maliki government if it were asked, and that it would consider cooperating with the US in restoring security to Iraq.
Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed media accounts that Iran already has troops inside Iraq. CNN is reporting that “a senior security official in Baghdad told CNN on Friday that in recent days, Iran has sent around 500 Revolutionary Guard troops to fight alongside Iraqi government security forces in Diyala province… Amid conflicting reports, a U.S. official told CNN that the head of Iran’s elite Quds force, Gen. Qassim Suleimani, was in Iraq this weekend.” The Guardian has a more elaborate version: “Iran has sent 2,000 advance troops to Iraq in the past 48 hours to help tackle a jihadist insurgency, a senior Iraqi official has told the Guardian.” The official said 1,500 basiji forces had crossed the border at Khanaqin on Friday, while another 500 entered the Badra Jassan area. He also said that Gen. Suleimani had arrived in Baghdad “to oversee the defense of the capital.”