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The Samson Option

Reader comment on item: Caliph Ibrahim's Brutal Moment
in response to reader comment: Complex response

Submitted by Michael S. (United States), Aug 15, 2014 at 03:07

Once the sectarian hatred inflamed, hatred of Israel was no longer enough to hold them together in their precarious unions. If they were ever able to unite, we would be in a world of trouble. But just the opposite is happening, with fracturing continuing, and the unraveling of the arbitrary artificial nation states designated by the Brits and French collapsing on itself.

I think that gets to the nugget of what you're saying, as the thing that matters.

Islam is an Abrahamic religion, like Judaism and Christianity. All three of them have a tendency toward sharp, acrimonious divisions among themselves. All three have also expressed this acrimony, moreover, with violence: The Jews, with their in-fightng in Jerusalem, right in the middle of their rebellion against Rome; the Christians, in the Fourth Crusade and Thirty Years' War, and the Muslims throughout their history. Eastern religions are no less divided; but their divisions are less exclusive. In Japan, people's births are commonly marked by Shinto rites and their deaths by Buddhist rites; and they spend the years in-between following religiously-kept social traditions.

Notice that I haven't specificly zeroed in on any "Sunni-Shi'ite" split here. The Abrahamic religions are inherently divisive; because they all claim to have the exclusively correct worship of the one true God. Muslims don't have to be Sunnis or Shi'as, to divide on these matters: All it takes is for some mullah to stir up his followers sufficiently into a puritanical frenzy. Israel sometimes gets attacked as a spin-off of these rivalries, as it has been these past few weeks, and sometimes it is attacked in its own right. From Israel's point of view, the missiles from one side kill the same way as the missiles from another.

Turkey's President-elect Erdogan is a megalomaniac like Hitler, and I expect him to attack Israel in near future. According to Ezekiel 38-39, he will do so in alliance with Iran, Sudan and Libya (not Russia). Considering how fluid the inter-Islamic rivalries are today in Iraq and Syria, I would not be surprised if the Turks and Iranians decide to divide up Iraq and Syria between them, to stabilize their frontiers. This will put them in direct contact with Israel, which also has an interest in pacifying Lebanon and southern Syria. That's what I expect to see in the near future.

Further down the road, there only remains Zechariah 14, a nuclear war resulting from all the nations of the world (namely, the UN) attacking Israel. This will happen, when the US stops vetoing such actions in the Security Council. Considering Obama's behavior of late, and the distinct possibility that his successor could be even more anti-Israel, I expect this also to happen in a few years -- but after the Turkish attack.

Those are the line-ups I am keeping my eye on. I think Israel needs to beef up its nuclear deterrent -- especially its ability to project nuclear weapons systems to ANYWHERE on earth. That may mean satellites, submarines, forward-deployed secret caches, container ships -- your guess is as good as mine. The Samson option (q.v.) is their only reliable one, so far as I can see.

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Reader comments (38) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1folly of the 'experts' [94 words]David, ThailandSep 20, 2014 23:48218084
Will NATO have to save Turkey and stop the barbarians at the gate? [164 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PezDispenserAug 16, 2014 16:26217194
1Turkey's intentions are aggressive, not defensive [136 words]Michael S.Aug 19, 2014 16:35217194
Er, just for the record... [140 words]David, ThailandSep 21, 2014 00:45217194
3Iraq's al-Malik gave ISIS $500 Million? [822 words]Michael SAug 12, 2014 16:41217111
2all very puzzling [124 words]saraAug 12, 2014 20:36217111
1A Millipolar/ Bipolar/ Unipolar World [857 words]Michael SAug 13, 2014 05:07217111
1Complex response [577 words]saraAug 14, 2014 21:46217111
1The Samson Option [527 words]Michael S.Aug 15, 2014 03:07217111
1ISIS AND THE SAUDI GOVERMENT [260 words]IMAD NAHAS /NEO KORBENAug 25, 2014 19:06217111
1Turkish support for IS [217 words]Michael SAug 27, 2014 04:28217111
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2Will the "clerks" wake up? [373 words]Fred BaehrAug 9, 2014 15:13217032
حش كوكب or Hash Kawkab? It is the ultimate punishment for a Khalifa! [171 words]dhimmi no moreAug 9, 2014 11:29217016
1al-Khulafa' al-Rashidiin الخلفاء الراشدين three of them we murdered [253 words]dhimmi no moreAug 9, 2014 08:33217008
1El califato universal [19 words]Angel OterosAug 8, 2014 02:39216978
2You made a minor mistake in the Map of Dawlat-al-Khilafa [133 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
PrashantAug 7, 2014 04:53216948
1Nice to Hear from a real Historian [307 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
AlexAug 6, 2014 22:13216827
The Real Reason Why "INTO THE DARK" Made it Into The Journal of Middle East Studies [46 words]PezDispenserAug 9, 2014 11:00216827
close but not complete... [131 words]shAug 6, 2014 21:06216812
4Genocide Against the Yazidi in Iraq by IS [64 words]LudvikusAug 6, 2014 09:55216649
4Evil flourishes when the good do nothing (or not enough) [149 words]Doug MayfieldAug 6, 2014 06:49216607
the map reflects a narrow world view [55 words]mythAug 6, 2014 06:12216598
1Time for lies [64 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
MuslimAug 5, 2014 21:04216554
5Cannot underestimate the Caliphate [148 words]Michael Hanni MorcosAug 5, 2014 17:32216548
1barbarians at the gate [26 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Steve bryanAug 5, 2014 16:04216544
Interesting [94 words]PHILIORAug 5, 2014 14:40216543
Interesting is perhaps Too interesting [138 words]Jules PostenAug 7, 2014 03:27216543
Far Too Sanguine? [507 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Ron ThompsonAug 5, 2014 13:40216542
THE MAP IS FALSE...THE ISLAM HAVE MORE IN EUROPE: FRANCE, GERMANY, HOLLAND,, ETC... [21 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Mateo MathausAug 5, 2014 13:09216540
Spheres & power [40 words]David W. LincolnAug 5, 2014 12:26216538
maps differ [26 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
JayAug 5, 2014 10:38216536
Your title may be premature [13 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Roslyn FranklAug 5, 2014 10:31216534
Hopefully the west will wake up [10 words]Ilana GoldsteinAug 5, 2014 10:08216532
The World stands on the Brink [371 words]Jules PostenAug 5, 2014 09:45216531
2From the Arab Spring to the Islamic Caliphate - While Operation Protective Edge Simmers [209 words]LudvikusAug 5, 2014 09:22216530
We might encourage the Caliphate... [190 words]Mr. DownerAug 5, 2014 08:52216529
Domestic Vignette in ISIS Household [14 words]DaveAug 5, 2014 08:11216528

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