Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Shi'a-Sunni Struggles in Iraq
Juan Cole reports several recent clashes of Sunni and Shi'a in the Baghdad area. It seems according to one report that the Sunnis in part of the Sunni Triangle are driving out Shi'a in an attempt to develop a Shi'a-free band around Baghdad. In Samarra there have been major rallies (after televising the trial) in support of Saddam. He suspects that the Shi'as here are grumbling in silence since they suffered so much from Saddam. Mogtada al-Sadr's people have been demanding Saddam's execution from the pulpit and in marches. A Shi'a imam in Baghdad has been preaching against Saddam's lawyers, saying they will be killed if they come into the country. Cole thinks that the trial may really enflame these feelings.
The fact is that the al-Qaida, Wahhabi, and Salafi Sunnis that now dominate much of the resistance, especially in Falluja, are also bitterly opposed to Shiite doctrine and the Shi'a community. If worst comes to worst, what we could have is a struggle with the old Baathists (secular) and Arab Sunnis, on the one side (with most of the Arab world potentially behind them) and the Shi'as (religious and secular), with Iran potentially behind them.
(Incidentally, Cole, who has generally disparaged the interim government was at least quite impressed with the most recent interview with Allawi's latest interview. Allawi came across as a moderate Arab nationalist willing to work with a wide variety of interests.)
Juan Cole reports several recent clashes of Sunni and Shi'a in the Baghdad area. It seems according to one report that the Sunnis in part of the Sunni Triangle are driving out Shi'a in an attempt to develop a Shi'a-free band around Baghdad. In Samarra there have been major rallies (after televising the trial) in support of Saddam. He suspects that the Shi'as here are grumbling in silence since they suffered so much from Saddam. Mogtada al-Sadr's people have been demanding Saddam's execution from the pulpit and in marches. A Shi'a imam in Baghdad has been preaching against Saddam's lawyers, saying they will be killed if they come into the country. Cole thinks that the trial may really enflame these feelings.
The fact is that the al-Qaida, Wahhabi, and Salafi Sunnis that now dominate much of the resistance, especially in Falluja, are also bitterly opposed to Shiite doctrine and the Shi'a community. If worst comes to worst, what we could have is a struggle with the old Baathists (secular) and Arab Sunnis, on the one side (with most of the Arab world potentially behind them) and the Shi'as (religious and secular), with Iran potentially behind them.
(Incidentally, Cole, who has generally disparaged the interim government was at least quite impressed with the most recent interview with Allawi's latest interview. Allawi came across as a moderate Arab nationalist willing to work with a wide variety of interests.)
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