BBC
Alastair Crooke, Huffington Post: If Syria and Iraq Become Fractured, So Too Will Tripoli and North Lebanon
BEIRUT -- The talk now is all about whether Syria and Iraq will end up as divided states. The impetus for such speculation derives firstly from the latest Saudi, Qatari and Turkish joint resolve to mount huge numbers of jihadists on Syria's borders. According to two senior political figures I spoke to, up to 10,000+ Wahhabist/Salafists (predominantly An-Nusra/Al Qaeda) have been gathered by the intelligence services of these latter states, mostly non-Arabs from Chechnya, Turkmenistan, etc. Plainly, Washington is aware of this (massively expensive) Saudi maneuver and equally plainly it is turning a blind eye to it.
Secondly, the speculation about a coming fractured Iraq has gained big momentum from ISIS's virtually unopposed walk-in to Ramadi. The images of long columns of ISIS Toyota Land Cruisers, black pennants waving in the wind, making their way from Syria all the way -- along empty desert main roads -- to Ramadi with not an American aircraft in evidence, certainly needs some explaining. There cannot be an easier target imagined than an identified column of vehicles, driving an arterial road, in the middle of a desert.
WNU Editor: The discussion on breaking up and/or altering the borders of the Middle East have been around for a long time. These borders were primarily set by the European powers over a century ago .... and there are many groups who have not been satisfied with the outcome. Having said that .... are events leading to such a fracture? My answer is yes.
The Sunni - Shiite divide is now being fought on many battlefields .... and the trend is for even more war. In such an environment .... I see no hope for reconciliation or compromise .... and while Lebanon has avoided much of the wars that are now engulfing the region .... they have a history of civil war that can easily be reignited ... .and if Syria and Iraq can be broken up .... so can a deeply divided country like Lebanon.
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