War of the mosques is shattering Iraq's hopes

[RamboLiberal]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1514897,00.html

<snip>

In mixed areas of Baghdad, a low-level, tit-for-tat, sectarian conflict has been going on, revolving largely around the city's galaxy of mosques, a conflict that has waxed and waned as the fighting for Falluja and the Shia Sadrist uprising pulled the gunmen elsewhere.

Its victims have been mosque guards, imams and other worthies, as well as gunmen and suspected terrorists. They have been the innocent and guilty, picked off by gun, grenade and bomb. It is a nasty little street war fuelled by the wider atrocities of Zarqawi's 'al-Qaeda in Iraq' - the suicide car bombings of Shia targets, all aimed at stoking the confrontation between the rival Muslim sects.

What is different now is that Zarqawi's provocations, in tandem with the lethal ambition of certain Shia groups, appear to be succeeding in slowly driving Iraqis apart.

What has changed in the 14 months since I last investigated Baghdad's mosque wars is insidious and very dangerous - a subtle transformation of how Sunni and Shia in this city see each other. For suspicion has crept in where there was none before - even among friends and colleagues who had previously worn their religious identities lightly.

[magellan]

1. This could have been avoided

Anyone with half a clue could have anticipated such conflicts BEFORE the war. Of course that doesn't include BushCo, who are clueless, and probably didn't care what the social repercussions of their illegal war for greed would be on the average Iraqi anyway. Now the cap's off and the genie's out of the bottle.

With their ignorance, Bush** et al have completely destabilized the political landscape in Iraq. The clock has been turned back on these people some 50 years -- first by disbanding the Iraqi army who might have maintained a semblance of peace and order during the long power vacuum (imagine war being declared on the U.S. and suddenly not having any police to patrol your neighborhood...what would happen?), and then by installing mostly corrupt officials to the successive governments, many who have deep religious/ethnic ties and their own agendas...backed by the US, of course.

What follows is a bit of data on Jaffari, the newly 'elected' prime minister of Iraq. It comes from a blog called Baghdad Burning. (Also linked in my sig area.) I can't recommend it highly enough for a taste of what's REALLY going on, on the ground, in Iraq.

Is anyone surprised that the same people who came along with the Americans – the same puppets who all had a go at the presidency last year – are the ones who came out on top in the elections? Jaffari, Talbani, Barazani, Hakim, Allawi, Chalabi… exiles, convicted criminals and war lords. Welcome to the new Iraq.

Ibraheim Al-Jaffari, the head of the pro-Iran Da’awa party, gave an interview the other day. He tried very hard to pretend he was open-minded and that he wasn’t going to turn the once-secular Iraq into a fundamentalist Shia state but the fact of the matter remains that he is the head of the Da’awa party. The same party that was responsible for some of the most infamous explosions and assassinations in Iraq during the last few decades. This is the same party that calls for an Islamic Republic modeled like Iran. Most of its members have spent a substantial amount of time in Iran.

[Oversea Visitor]

2. First they hope US withdraw

Now they hope Us withdraw and kill the sorry azz of a puppet goverment up at the same time.

[T_i_B]

3. Kick

This is important

:kick:

[T_i_B]

4. Kick

:kick: