Iraq and Afghanistan

Today’s paper brings us the news that in Basra several hundred Shiites have founded an organization called the “Anger Brigades”. They are angry at the killing in cold blood of Shi’as, particularly in some incidents south of Baghdad. They demand that local Sunni and Saudi clerics issue fatwas condemning the killing of Shi’as by Sunnis. If not, they will be on the war path. Their ostensibly intention is to fight with Sunnis who have come in from other countries, but this could be just the beginning of a much larger fight. The war of Sunnis and Shi’as was advocated as readers may recall in a note from Zarqawi many months ago. Why he thought a war of Shi’as and Sunnis would benefit the Jihadist cause is not clear. But what is clear is that the Islamist extremists are mostly extremist Sunnis for whom Shi’as are just as much heretics as Christians. Attacks on Shi’as by their comrades in Pakistan have already indicated as much. News of this new form of Shi’a militancy comes at the same time as we learn of the arrest of Sunni clerics in Baghdad and surrounding areas for advocating violence against Americans. It should also be noted that strong reactions against what has happened in Falluja seems this time to be largely confined to the Sunni area. This was not the case when Falluja was attacked the first time. It also comes a time when the only Iraqi anti-insurgent forces the have proved effective are Kurds, a people who have been fighting other Iraqis, particularly Sunni Arabs, for many years.

I hate to be an advocate of sectarian warfare. But the ability of the Shi’a and Kurds to stand up to the Sunni Arab nationalists and Islamists may be exactly what we need to save our preemptive experiment in Iraq. This being the case, it is hardly the time for the United States to engage in a war of words with the Iranian government over the question of nuclear weapons. It is true that the main Iraqi Shi’a leaders reject the leadership of the Iranian theocrats. Nevertheless, this is treacherous ground and we should for the time being, at least, tread carefully.