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particularly the sheer population that is spread through iraq and syria in particular and into south lebanon. on top of that, there is deep cynicism whichever side of the islamic sunni/shia divide, on the popular level over the actions of the united states of america anywhere in the middle east. so the downing of a drone will be seen as the death of a robot, not of an individual. it will not be seen in the broader middle east as an act of war, it will be seen as an act of defiance. i think that there will probably be a degree of -- directed at the americans even by the enemies of iran. little iran striking a bit of a blow an downing a very expensive high-tech piece of equipment with technology that is homegrown. so i think that's something that will play very significantly on the minds of the leaderships, even in these authoritarian gulf
begin to have a conversation with sunni neighbors. they're already pretty good with egypt and jordan. could that be expanded to saudi arabia and the gulf states? that's the interesting strategic move at this point. you're absolutely right. it further pushes the peace process to one side. >> admiral, doesn't the sunni/shi'a divide in the middle east, doesn't that define our era right now in terms of middle east peace just like after israel's statehood in '48 you could look at what happened in '67, what happened in 73, what happened with the peace accords. all these big events that have happened but right now doesn't it seem that at least what goes on in the middle east is going to be framed more by this sunni shi'a divide than any divide between arabs and israel? >> i completely agree and sometimes people ask me, joe, how long will this go on, the sunni shi'a conflicts which effectively a religious conflict
read it, which country is exacerbated sunni/shia divide, bombing yemen and undermining governments by providing funds and arms to isis? he's alleging that saudi arraab is doing all of this. what should the u.s. do to try to calm things down? >> well, first off, i think it's a bit rich for the iranians to be pointing fingers at the saudis when the spread of iranian influence and the spread of the iranian revolution throughout the middle east is one of the objectives of the iranian regime. so, you know -- and we also need to see this in the context of the historical rivalry between saudi arabia and iran for power and influence in the region. and in the past, things have escalated and diplomatic relations have been severed, but these countries have been living in the same part of the world for thousands of years, and they generally figure out a way to get along. so i think you'll see some of
it is the aggressive moves that led to this. >> kuwait became the latest country to sever diplomatic ties with iran. joining me now, richard engel in istanbul. this is now involving a half dozen countries. >> reporter: it's more than a regional dispute. it's a profound religious dispute, an et nick dispute, the arab divide, the shi'a divide. this is the divide causing many of the problems in the middle east flight, and one of the root causes of isis. frankly, it is the last thing that washington or anybody needs at the moment. right now there are calls for international consensus for the great powers of the middle east, which include iran, which include saudi arabia to get together to fight against the
the idea he could win and that started to puncture the balloon. this is for her, to me iowa is the game here both for sanders and for her. >> chuck todd, no better way to start it off than chuck todd, host of "meet the press." thank you so much. >> great job on the rope line, andrea. >> well, that's all because of the camera crews and the producers here who make it all happen. thank you, chuck. now a big start to the new year in the middle east. it isn't a good one. saudi arabia and iran, two power players on opposite sides of the sunni/shia divide rivals in the region have severed diplomatic ties and continuing to exchange heated rhetoric. all this, the result of saudi arabia's execution of a prominent shiite cleric despite protests from the u.s. in advance, escalating tensions between sunnis and shiites throughout the muslim world. this is a very serious deal. nbc foreign correspondent ayman mohyeldin joins me from new
saudi arabia, among them within a prominent shiite cleric. joining us now is former undersecretary, former ambassador to greece, nicholas burns. thanks so much for being here with us to understand what's going on. just in the past 15 minutes, bahrain as you heard, the uae downgrading its diplomacy after bahrain and iran have severed its ties with saudi arabia. what does all of this mean for the middle east and the u.s.? >> well, it's a dangerous development. as you know, this sunni-shia divide has played out in a bloody and divisive way. iran is the great shia power, saudi arabia leads in many ways the sunni world and so if they grow further apart, if they're not talking, if they're fighting through proxies in places like syria and yemen and they are, it means over the next several months we should expect to see more violence, more dead, more
in. is baghdad next? >> i was going to ask you if you had any good news. it's a dire situation. we hope it's not next and no one of course can say for sure. this is all caught up in the sunni/shia divide. it takes me back to what i was saying three years ago when i thought we missed the boat at that time by not aiding the well-vetted moderate syrian army. i believe because we didn't hem them they withered on the vine and isis moved into the void and the sunni mace feel that isis is the only game in town. the government in baghdad has been too tilted towards the shias and too aligned with iran. >> president obama says the u.s. is not losing this war against isis. i'll ask you the reverse question. is the u.s. winning this war? >> i don't think we know. i think that's the truth. i think we're doing all we can. look i don't think the american public is ready for another
was who would take care of the humanitarian aid. if there was a ground invasion, there would be refugees, where would they go and who would take care of them? g and we're noticing a sectarian divide. predominantly shiite countries that get a lot of support from iran voting no to this resolution, where you have sunni countries really leading the way on this. >> certainly worsening the sunni/shia divide. but how will iran, the major shia power in the region, how will they respond to all of this. thank you. now prosecutors say the germanwings co-pilot was declared unfit for work on the day of the crash but still ended up at the controls of the plane somehow. coming up, i'll ask an expert if better mental health testing
and look the last four years, bashar al assad, he had a serious propaganda goal to create the element of extreme element within syria, and if you look at what they were doing to sunnis, abasing them and makeing them commit sack relidge, it is the goal to commit extreme there. >> and it was to commit the arresting of children. >> yes, and the fighters were saying that we were drawn to the fight because we didn't want to see our co-members treated this way. >> and they are at the forefront of brutality in the region, and it is the hypocrisy that we have to go after. >> yes, and they don't believe, and a lot of people don't pay attention to the sunni/shia divide. >> and it is hugely important. and the point that michael is makeing is so important, because
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