When thieves fall out

Looking at this picture, courtesy of The WSJ, I am tempted to ask whether they are kissing or head-butting each other?  Or perhaps it is an example of what my Glasgie commenter, Jimmy, would call a 'Glasgie kiss'!

Well, it might have started with kisses and cuddles when the new President of Egypt, Mr. Mursi, met the little glove puppet who thinks he's running Iran at the meeting of the so-called 'non-aligned nations' in Tehran, but it soon turned nasty when two of the principal guests pissed on the Persian carpet, er, metaphorically speaking, of course! 

First, President Mursi of Egypt who since his recent election had been making eyes at Iran, suddenly decided to stick up for the Sunnis against the Shiites, thus taking sides in the great religious divide that runs through the MiddleEast.  He did so by praising the four Caliphs of Sunni-ism, a deliberate jab at Iran's ruling Shiite theocracy.  Then he went even further by berating the Syrian (Shiite and Alawite) regime for its cruelty to its own people in the full and certain knowledge that Iran is supporting them.  Some humor was derived from the Iranian simultaneous interpreter who, when required to repeat what amounted in our terms to shouting 'bollocks to the Bishop', gulped and spluttered and finally just sank into silence.  The Iranian media either refused to cover Mr. Mursi's speech or simply changed his words!

No sooner was the Persian carpet whisked away for instant cleaning when up stepped Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the head honcho of the United Gangster Federation Nations, no less.  He, too, lashed into the Syrian regime who had already walked out on hearing Mr. Mursi's words.  Not satisfied with that, he also laid into the Iranians for their murderous threats against Israel.  Well, that was like shouting 'Bollocks to the Bishop' in the middle of St. Paul's!  Somehow all those Arab outfits and unshaven faces don't quite match what you would expect in a Bateman cartoon but the effect was the same.

By and large, I steer well clear of Middle-East politics because I know even less about it than the other stuff I drone on about.  I have no idea which side we should support in the current Syrian imbroglio except that if Iran is for it then we should be against it - whatever 'it' actually is.  Above and beyond all other considerations it is is essential to keep the split in the Arab as wide as possible.  The more they prey on each other the less time they have to prey on us, so let us ensure that they remain as un-aligned as possible!

 

Comments

[JK]

"By and large, I steer well clear of Middle-East politics because I know even less about it than the other stuff I drone on about."

Oh dear. David? You're British ain't ye? The answer to all this stuff is clear.

DRAW A MAP!

http://www.fpri.org/enotes/2012/201209.black.israelscontestedspace.html

[David Duff]

Ah, but there, I think, you are mistaken, JK. Israel obviously has a part to play in the ramifications but there are greater movements occurring within the Muslim world in which Israel is just a bit player. In my (very dim) view the struggle between Sunni Saudi and Shiite Iran is the one to watch.

[backofanenvelope]

Personally, I think things are going quite well. Libya and Iraq in ruins, Syria reducing itself to rubble and the Egyptians busy duffing each other up. Is duffing OK?

[David Duff]

Oh yes, "duffing" is delightful, er, but not with smelly Arabs!

[Juniper]

It's an interesting situation, Cameron has castrated our armed forces, Hague for some reason is itching to get us into the war by any means possible, probably backed by the arms industry, and the government badly wants a second war to divert the attention of the masses, no expense spared.I wonder if William Hill is running a book? An each way bet on a second war may be profitable, the British political class love wars.

[David Duff]

I'm not sure I can go along with that one, Juniper, because I have great difficulty in seeing 'Dim Dave' as some sort of Machiavel - that takes considerable intelligence! Happily, we have no aircraft carriers as well as very few soldiers so I think we will be confined to cheering from the sidelines. Ah, but which side will we be cheering? I wonder of the 'Ministry for Foreigners knows!

[JK]

Well David, my initial comment had more to do with "the usual suspects' modus operandi" than anything else. Very apparently you didn't get the drift of my subtle Arkansas hillbilly wit.

" In my (very dim) view the struggle between Sunni Saudi and Shiite Iran is the one to watch."

I realize the storm of protests you're about to unleash on me for pasting this link but two things to consider. 1. "Sold in two paragraphs" [but in this case six] and, 2. What yesterday was Hurricane Isaac in Lousiana USA, is now blindingly flashing lightning with torrents of rain (a few tornadoes) across the entirety of Arkansas USA. Your "storm of protests" will be the least of my worries:

(It's not the "Sunni Saudi" we should be concerned with.)

http://www.fpri.org/enotes/2012/201207.stock.egypt.html