Following the US announced plans to send more troops to the Middle East.. Iran has stepped up the war talk. "The Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign has led to a climate that is ripe for inadvertent conflict. Each cycle of escalation brings the parties closer to the brink of a catastrophic military clash." Ali Vaez, Iran project director for International Crisis Group, told Australia's ABC. Is this more sabre rattling by both sides or is the Middle East about to explode into conflict again?
The middle east has been in conflict since time immemorable. I don't see it ever not being in conflict. I don't see how we can just sit back and let Iran build nuclear weapons, though.
It appear to be a repeat of a conflict in the 1980s between Iran and the U.S. over tanker attacks. Reagan had all Kuwaiti tankers flagged as U.S. vessel, so that when Iran attacked one of those tankers, it was an attack on a U.S.-flagged vessel--an act of war. Reagan then destroyed the entire Iranian Navy in one day after an attack on one of those tankers. It appears that Trump is prepping for a Reagan-style conflict, not a Bush-style land war. No one wants a land war against Iran, but a naval and air war would be a no-brainer for the U.S. A couple of B-2s with bunker-busters would set back the Iran nuclear program for decades...and help relations with China as a side-effect. Trump has been portrayed as a combination of Ronald Reagan and P.T. Barnum.
The middle east needs some hobbies and sports. They simply seem to have nothing to do with their spare time. They are too politically unstable to have bb guns, much less nuclear power.
Think in this case at the moment that America should not do anything...... Saber rattling makes no sense
You have hit nail on head @Shirley Martin. What hope does the ME have when moslem seem to be constantly in conflict with moslem. "immemorial"
From what I understand, the conflict has as much to do with the Sunni vs. Shiite as it does with the U.S. Apparently Iran wants to take over Saudi Arabia , and is itching for a reason to attack them..Saudis feel the same way with regard to Iran, their traditional enemy.
@Don Alaska I never understood any of this, and likely never will. One kind of Muslim hating another kind? Frank
Yeah, it is a little like the Protestants against the Catholics but more extreme...more like 12th century stuff in Europe and the Brits against the Spanish in the 16th and 17th century. I am no expert in this, but I think the Shiites are awaiting the Mahdi to crawl out a well he crawled into long ago and that will signal the end of the current era, while the Sunnis are more interested in current leadership.
I am certainly not in favor of a new war in the Middle East. Before we decided to get involved, Muslims were killing Muslims. But I don't think the answer is to back down or to send them planeloads of cash, as our last president did.
I believe that President Trump has said that he doesn't want war with Iran. If it was just the Sunni and Shiite, I would say pack up all our little stuff, come home and deal with the winner. But that didn't work too well with Iran. I don't know what the solution is. It's a tangled web, indeed.