Shias and Sunnis

15 out of the 19 hijackers of planes that attacked U.S. targets on September 11, 2001 were Saudi Arabian Sunni Muslims, 2 from the United Arab Emirates, 1 from Lebanon and 1 from Egypt. None were Shia Muslims, none were from Iraq or Iran. After U.S. troops exited Iraq in 2011 after deposing the Sunni government of Saddam Hussein and not abiding by promises made to Sunnis after a Shia majority government was installed led to the power vacuum filled by fundamentalist Sunnis called ISIS. ISIS then moves into Syria opening a second front for the Syrian Free Army to fight against as well as Assad’s government forces. The U.S. at this time is suppling arms to the Syrian Free Army (Sunnis) and Assad (Shia) is being backed by Russian and Iran (Shia). Saudi Arabia, a Sunni dominated kingdom governed by Sharia law is the enemy of Iran. There has never been reprisals against Saudi Arabia after 9/11, the Khashoggi killing, or numerous civil rights abuses and killings/executions carried out against their citizens by the Saudi government. General Qasem Soleimani is the one largely responsible for stopping ISIS in both Syria and Iraq. ISIS that attempted to overran the current U.S. Ayn al Asad airbase in Iraq in 2014 after U.S. advisors and Marines were back in Iraq. My main point here is why the disproportionate attention towards Iran a Shia country and not Saudi Arabia a Sunni country? This past Monday Saudi officials were meeting at the White House with Donald Trump. This is a complicated situation with many moving parts and simple answers are not helpful nor are ignorant comments without any context. Questions need to be continually asked and the desire for one dimensional reactions held in suspicion.

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