Opinion from the desk of the Editor:

The ceasefire is holding in Gaza…….so I will take this opportunity to write on areas that time and the media have forgotten……

Everybody has an opinion on what should be done about the deteriorating situation in Iraq and Syria……some want to “bomb Iran” syndrome…..others preach caution…..and yet others think we need to step back and let the events play out…….

There is a prevailing opinion that Iraq should be allowed to break up……..and for good reason……Prof. JK Choksy…..Iraq is really three separate geographical regions, now contested by Kurds and Arabs ethnically, Arabic and Kurdish speakers linguistically, and Sunni and Shiite Muslims religiously. Ethnically Iraqis are approximately 75 percent Arabs, 20 percent Kurds, and 5 percent Turkmen and Assyrians. Religiously they are 65 percent Shiite Muslims, 30 percent Sunni Muslims, and 5 percent Christians and Mandeans. Monarchs and dictators held the tripartite configuration together for nine decades as modern Iraq. Without their iron fists enforcing coexistence, bloody fault lines are sundering the artificial nation back into its customary divisions.

Iraq’s current national boundaries arose from British action through a League of Nations mandate in 1920. It was also the British who, influenced by notions that Shiites were fanatical and uncultured, vested authority in the new nation’s Sunni minority. The colonial masters bequeathed rule to the Hashemite prince Faisal of Mecca and Istanbul, who had previously ruled for less than five months in Syria before being forced out by the French. Several attempted and one successful coups d’état, followed by another British occupation, quickly demonstrated how unstable Iraq really was.

History should have warned of the horrors to come when colonials are allowed to make the borders….for they set up the region for turmoil….it took almost 100 years but ….”you asked for it..you got it”.

Personally, No matter which decision the US makes…….and BTW, everyone needs to stop accusing the prez of inaction and for good reason…….the Middle East will change.

As the US debates its future in Iraq, all eyes are on President Obama—but where we should be looking is Capitol Hill. Yes, congressional leaders recently said Obama needed no new authorization for further military action in Iraq. “But they’re wrong,” writes Rachel Maddow in the Washington Post. The Founding Fathers gave “the responsibility for war and peace to the clamorous Congress.” The War Powers Act puts power in Obama’s hands for 60 days; after that, it’s up to lawmakers to decide whether to authorize additional troops.

The Constitution puts Congress in charge “so that decisions about war and peace would be made not on one person’s say-so but only after vigorous national debate,” and we need that debate on Iraq. There is a precedent here: A year and a half after the US departure from Vietnam, North Vietnam planned a new offensive, and President Ford sought $700 million “to stabilize the military situation.” Lawmakers’ views on the matter were clear: “Congress knew that it was in its power to say no, and it said no. There would be no second coming of America’s war in Vietnam.” Click for Maddow’s full piece.

Now what about ISIS……..eventually the Sunni tribes will take on ISIS and destroy it.  At present they are using the militants as a hammer against Maliki…..once they exact their revenge on Maliki for treating the Sunnis like crap….they will turn on ISIS and set them on the lamb.

And there is a image of what the ‘New” middle East may look it in the near future…….

Some of the “experts” are calling for a federated Iraq….broken down into 3 separate entities….and they think it is a good idea……..STOP!………that same idea was purposed by a presidential candidate during the 2008 primaries by democratic candidate Joe Biden…….and these same “experts” scoffed at the idea of a federated Iraq the very idea that they now embrace…….so tell me again just who it is that “has no clue”.

Once this situation has been rectified the Middle East will appear much different and will most likely return to a relative calm.  It will never be as calm as the west would desire….but the people of the region will be satisfied with their new region (for now).

My thought is to step back and allow this situation to work itself out…..it may take a decade but I feel that the residents will find the proper balance.