comment: >
context: Iran iraq conflict is old as fuck >
  
  And one of the bloodiest wars in recent memory with Saddam using chemical warfare against Iranians also not one sided like this thread seems to imply the two sides have great reason to have disdain for each other. >
  
  I wish it was that simple, what if you get carried by 6 regardless >
  
  Considering Iran has a private army in Iraq that’s larger than the Iraqi military…yeah no shit >
  
  What militia is this? There are so many on the Middle East I can’t keep track lol. >
  
  Quds Force is essentially the direct sponsor of every Shia militia in Iraq, but the most prominent militia is Kata'ib Hezbollah, the militia that raided the US Embassy in Baghdad on 27 December 2019 and who's leader was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a member of Quds Force and the guy who Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Quds Force, was meeting with in Iraq when the US assassinated both of them with an airstrike on 3 January 2020. >
  
  For a very related statistic, Iraq is about 40% Sunni and Iran has been meddling in Iraqi affairs for decades after the end of the Iraq / Iran War - especially after Saddam was deposed. >
  
  That's why I'm really surprised by the survey, I thought Iran would have high approval ratings in Iraq. >
  
  I've had this discussion with an Iraqi Shiite. He said that the Arab/Persian antipathy is stronger than the Shiite/Shiite solidarity. Iraqi Shiites have sought Iranian support when they saw it as their best option, but it was always a relationship of need and convenience, never of affection or preference. >
  
  I had a Persian coworker that came to Canada as a religious refugee (he was atheist) and he absolutely despised Arabs, claimed they ruined his country and they’re the ones that turned it into a religious hellhole. 
  Before that I didn’t had no clue there was tension between the groups, guess I thought they were all Muslim brothers or something lol >
  
  Lol so I went to an “expat drinks night” at a bar in my city and somehow I ended up in a group with, among others, an Israeli, an Indian, and a Persian. The Indian guy was talking about how Iran is a pretty popular vacation destination for Asians and the Israeli girl responded with “Yeah I’d never be allowed to go. Israelis don’t usually vacation in Arab countries anyway.” It was actually the Indian guy who pointed out that Iran isn’t arabic and she said “Yeah in Israel, we just call everyone who speaks Arabic an Arab.” 
  I thought I was going to witness a murder that night. >
  
  Interestingly Hindi and Farsi have some similarities because of the history of trade. In fact the name Punjab stems from farsi meaning 5 rivers (water). >
  
  They have similarities because they're both from the same language family and Persian used to be an official language of the Mughal Empire. Though I don't really think Iran is as popular a destination for travel in India. >
  
  Iran is the biggest security threat to Iran too. >
  
  I'm reminded of the Al-Shaheed Monument in Iraq.  Like many war memorials, an achingly beautiful reminder of horrific conflict >
  
  And now the Iranian regime is finally suffering under the demographics they created with that war as everyone has been predicting for 20 years. >
  
  Only half? >
  
  The other half is Shia >
  
  Pretty sure they (pro-Iranians) killed like 800 shia during the 2019-2021 protests
  A more believeable number would be closer to 2/3 of Iraqis. >
  
  Westerners have always treated Iraqis as some sort of cultural monolith. Cheney supposedly dropped a 800 page report about the religions and cultures of Iraq into the trash before he was about to invade one the most ethically diverse regions on earth. >
  
  Problem was it wasn't covered in bbq sauce. >
  
  And their belief is correct >
  
  Also from the article:
  
  The Arab Opinion Index is an annual survey conducted by the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies in order to gauge Arab public opinion on political and cultural matters. The 2022 poll included interviews with 33,300 people across 14 Arab countries.
  Across the Arab World, a third of all respondents view Israel as the biggest threat to their country’s security. Only 9% identified Iran as the biggest security threat - behind both Israel and the United States.  
  However, Iraq's statistics differ significantly from the Arab average, likely because of Iran’s direct interference in Iraqi affairs over the past two decades.
  Iraqis also expressed opposition to Israel and the United States in the survey. The overwhelming majority of respondents from Iraq - 92% - were opposed to recognising Israel.
  The Iraqi parliament passed a law in May 2022 criminalising relations with Israel. >
  
  This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 90%. (I'm a bot)
  
  
  Nearly half of all Iraqis believe that Iran poses the biggest security threat to their country, according to statistics from the 2022 Arab Opinion Index.
  "Politically, Iraq cannot form any government unless Tehran had the final say; Iran fulfilled its agenda in the country through its influence over the Iraqi ruling parties."
  Iran has influence on Iraq's infrastructure and most major industries, and provides the country with one-third of its gas and electricity, despite Iraq's rich natural resources.
  
  
  Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Iraq^#1 Iran^#2 Iraqi^#3 Arab^#4 country^#5 >
  
  Ah yes, and don't forget about the Jews, ermahgerd, evil Jews. Fuck sake. >
  
  I mean… that’s literally fair as fuck lmaoo. They’ve conflicted in almost every regard under the sun for years now. >
  
  Truly no greater contact sport on earth than arguing over the correct invisible sky man. >
  
  You should take your finger out of your ass for a minute and use it to click on the article and read it. The Iraqis are mad because Iran is sending militas to ethnic cleanse Sunnis and moderate Shias out of Iraq. 10% of Iranians are Sunni. If this was a war of religion Iran would start by killing them. This is war so that Iran can keep exploiting and destabilizing its neighbors. Why do Westerners want to comment on international affairs when they don't want to do any research on politics or history, but instead just treat the subjects as dumb cavemen? >
  
  Privileged ass people just like to minimize the less privileged’s problems by chalking them up to being simplistic and far beneath them, when in actuality they’re far more complex. They’d see how complex the problems were if they did a tiny bit of research but clearly that requires too much effort, but rest assured as an Iraqi I can tell you firsthand that the conflict is far more than “whose sky man is better” >
  
  Well... it's good not to be number one...
  ...the U.S.A. >
  
  Title may lead folks not to read the article, and note Israel and the US are seen the primary threats by numerous regional countries. >
  
  Not saying it is wrong. But i whould like to see what have been in the news lately, and the sauce(yas) for it >
  
  In second and third place came the Iroquois and Ireland, respectively.