[occultist_throw]

And unfortunately, when it comes to religion, this is a flat-out religious war.

But I mean, they're all Moslems, right? It has to do with who the rightful heir to Mohammed is. Is it Ali, or Abu Bakr? The answer to that question thus says which side of the interpretation of "Shia" or "Sunni" is.

Long story short, it's not resolvable without a great deal of violence. Disagreements about succession are hardly ever peaceful.

[gpvos]

That does not address the question of what has changed causing SA to whack at everything Shia now, where it did not do so before.

[wavefunction]

The new Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia[0] is behind this and other 'efforts' in the Kingdom.

[0]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/14/saudi-crown-pr...

[lostlogin]

The lack of repercussion from the world at large must be part of it.

[mobilefriendly]

Iran is rising and the U.S. is unsteady in the region. The reality is that the U.S. hardly needs MidEast oil anymore. North America is more important to U.S. energy markets. The U.S. imports 3x as much petroleum from Canada as from Saudi Arabia. So the House of Saud is both fearful and no longer restrained.