Armenia and Azerbaijan

Cookie_

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Things are heating up in the Caucasus region of the world right now.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are currently fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region both countries claim authority over. The region has been in dispute since the fall of the Soviet Empire, as the population of that region is ethnically Armenian and has been fighting against the Azerbaijani government this whole time.

To give an example of how fraught the relationship between the countries are; people of Armenian descent, regardless of which country the come from, are banned from entry into Azerbaijan.
International relations are mediated by the Russians, the French, and the US.

As it stands now, these two countries have killed dozens of each other's military since the shelling began on Sunday, and shows no signs of stopping.

Fighting Between Armenia And Azerbaijan Threatens To Spiral Into Full-Blown War
 
Another political player in this game is (like anything in the area) Iran. Back in June they were caught providing energy support to the unofficial Armenian government in the region.
Iran’s Latest Misadventure Destabilizes the Caucasus - War on the Rocks

Now, Armenia is a mostly Christian country whereas Azerbaijan is Shia, so this may seem out of character for Iran, as it is usually religiously similar areas that get support. This article digs deeper into the possible reasons why they may support the Armenians.

What’s Iran’s role in the Armenia-Azerbaijan clash? | TRT World
 
Nothing Iran does really shocks me and I blame it on the fact that they are highly influenced by the Haghani School within Shia Islam. Due to that connection, Iran has a weird obsession with bringing about the Apocalypse in order to reveal the 12th Imam and bring peace to the world.

Heck Iran trained Al-Qaeda in Sudan in the 90's in spite of the Shia-Sunni divide and they continue to have a weird relationship, on and off, with Hamas, despite Hamas also being Sunni. I really get the feeling that Iran would work with the devil himself if it meant getting closer to their apocalyptic goal. Whatever their reason, the fact that they chose to insert themselves into the Caucasus region cannot be good for us.
 
Nothing Iran does really shocks me and I blame it on the fact that they are highly influenced by the Haghani School within Shia Islam. Due to that connection, Iran has a weird obsession with bringing about the Apocalypse in order to reveal the 12th Imam and bring peace to the world.

Heck Iran trained Al-Qaeda in Sudan in the 90's in spite of the Shia-Sunni divide and they continue to have a weird relationship, on and off, with Hamas, despite Hamas also being Sunni. I really get the feeling that Iran would work with the devil himself if it meant getting closer to their apocalyptic goal. Whatever their reason, the fact that they chose to insert themselves into the Caucasus region cannot be good for us.

I was unfamiliar with the Haghani School stuff, but I imagine it's similar to the "rapture Christians" like Harold Camping? I have extended family who buy into that stuff, so I could see how that would effect things if those beliefs were at a level of power in a country.
 
@Cookie_ thanks to my alma mater I could give a very detailed version of Christian eschatology, but that would totally derail this thread.

Essentially, the "pre-rapture" concept is typically held by the Evangelical sect of Protestant Christianity. If you are more interested in the Rapture, this is a decent evangelical link describing pre, mid and post tribulation (the tribulation is the event that precedes the rapture).

More important to this thread is the question: "how does Christian eschatology manifest itself in American public policy?" In general, it manifests itself in a few ways.

1) Internationally: Israel is a HUGE component (probably the most significant by far), the unification of the globe (think one world government) and the attempt to send missionaries to unreached people groups or groups within the 10/40 window.

2) Domestically: The belief that widespread persecution is inevitable, but can be staved off if acted upon (this is why many pastors raise money hands over fist with regard to politics).

At the end of the day, the "rapture" concept for Christians is a peaceful transition, whereas the Haghani school literally requires mass destruction. I hope my tid-bits answered the root of your curiosity.
 
@Cookie_ thanks to my alma mater I could give a very detailed version of Christian eschatology, but that would totally derail this thread.

Essentially, the "pre-rapture" concept is typically held by the Evangelical sect of Protestant Christianity. If you are more interested in the Rapture, this is a decent evangelical link describing pre, mid and post tribulation (the tribulation is the event that precedes the rapture).

More important to this thread is the question: "how does Christian eschatology manifest itself in American public policy?" In general, it manifests itself in a few ways.

1) Internationally: Israel is a HUGE component (probably the most significant by far), the unification of the globe (think one world government) and the attempt to send missionaries to unreached people groups or groups within the 10/40 window.

2) Domestically: The belief that widespread persecution is inevitable, but can be staved off if acted upon (this is why many pastors raise money hands over fist with regard to politics).

At the end of the day, the "rapture" concept for Christians is a peaceful transition, whereas the Haghani school literally requires mass destruction. I hope my tid-bits answered the root of your curiosity.


This is fascinating.
 
The weirdest timeline; almost instantaneous "highlight" reels from the battle field and music videos.


See, these videos are all fun and weird.

Then you have helmet cam footage from infantry soldiers; that's a cold reminder of just how awful this is.

I won't link the video here, but OAF Nation shared one on Instagram.

The video is helmet cam footage of an Armenian soldier attempting to crawl into a small trench while under what sounds like small arms fire. He is apparently screaming "they have abandoned us" when he is struck and killed just before reaching safety.
Another soldier is in the trench, hands over his ears, wailing uncontrollably.

What infuriates me is all these young dudes in the comments saying things like "looks like fun" or "that dude crying is a giant pussy".
 
Potentially how bad can this get?

Allegedly(I haven't had a chance to verify yet) Iran and Russia are providing support to Armenia, Turkey to Azerbaijan.

Armenia recently recalled their ambassador from Israel, due to Israeli drone systems being used by the Azerbaijani; whether this is from an old arms deal or a current one, I'm not sure.

Very very messy.
 
Theres a small effort in SoCal to gather, prep, and transfer medical kits to Armenia to be distributed to Armenian Soldiers.
 
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