Trump Strategy on defeating terrorists

Enlisting the help of Muslims to defeat terrorists is what Trump is initiating with his trip to Saudi Arabia. The timing is right, because the governments of our allies are ready to begin. Terrorists exist in both Sunni and Shiite groups and they are identifiable.

The plan is to sell military equipment to Saudi Arabia to enable it to deter terrorist aggression. In addition, the Saudis are gathering support from moderate Imams to discredit and remove extremist Imams.  The Saudis are working to dry up the funding of terror. Finally, the Saudis are working to diversify their economy and establish a larger private sector.

The following articles should give you the lay of the land on Muslim beliefs

Differences between Shiite and Sunni, by Matt Bradley and Ali A. Nabhan 1/4/16

The growing diplomatic feud between Iran and Saudi Arabia has escalated historic tensions in the Muslim world, as the Sunni kingdom and its allies scale back their diplomatic ties with Shiite Iran.

While the dispute appears politically grounded, it also derives from Islam’s central ideological division. While many Muslims consider Saudi Arabia as the leading power in the Sunni Muslim world, Iran and its theological regime is often thought of as its chief Shiite rival.

Both sects consider themselves Muslims and their beliefs, symbols and religious practices are very similar, but there are a few important differences between them.

Questions of Hereditary Succession

Shiites believe the Prophet Mohammed should have been succeeded by his son-in-law, Imam Ali, and leadership of the Muslim world should pass through the prophet’s descendants. Sunnis don’t believe the leadership of the Muslim world should necessarily pass through hereditary succession.

Reverence of Imam Ali and His Family

Shiites continue to observe what they consider to be Imam Ali and his descendants’ persecution and to revere his family, making annual pilgrimages to shrines to the Imam and his 11 descendants.

The Sunni Majority

Sunnis greatly outnumber Shiites, constituting nearly 90% of the global community of Muslims. The governments of some Persian Gulf countries—including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates—are Sunni, while Iran and Iraq are ruled by Shiites. Syria’s regime is Alawite, a Shiite offshoot.

Styles of Prayer

Shiites and Sunnis pray differently: Sunnis cross their arms, while Shiites keep their arms by their sides. Sunnis observe five daily prayer sessions; Shiites condense the five prayers into three sessions.

Governance

Shiites are governed by more hierarchical structures, following living religious leaders. But Sunnis typically follow scholarly texts penned by past religious leaders.

https://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2016/01/04/5-differences-between-sunnis-and-shiites/

Extremist Islamic Terrorism movement

In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist religious, political, and social movement was founded in Egypt by Hassan al-Banna in March 1928. The group spread to other Muslim countries and was subjected to a succession of government crackdowns in 1948, 1954, 1965, and 2013 after plots, or alleged plots, of assassination and overthrow were uncovered.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brotherhood_in_Egypt

This group assassinated Anwar Sadat after he released them from prison

Wahhabism is an Islamic doctrine and religious movement founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792). It has been variously described as ultraconservative. Austere, fundamentalist or puritanical. It  advocated a purging of such widespread Sunni practices as the veneration of saints, the seeking of their intercession, and the visiting of their tombs, all of which were practiced all over the Islamic world, but which he considered idolatry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabism

Comments

Both Shiites and Sunnis will need to reject terrorism, but Trump is starting with our traditional allies the Shiites in Saudi Arabia and other Shiite countries.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader