Originally posted by
[email protected] 2 2004, 01:58 PM
No, also in Pakistan shia muslims where killed in attacks. It seems like its an attack on shia muslims. I dont get it why muslim extremist terrorist would want to attack other muslims
You might as well ask: Why have so many Protestants been killed by Catholics, and so many Catholics been killed by Protestants? They're all Christians, right? (In both cases, it's not just sectarian bigotry...there are also underlying political and economic causes making use of sectarian bigotry.)
From the viewpoint of the U.S. occupation, this is definitely a Good Thing. The more division and conflict between Shi'a and Sunni Iraqis, the less likely that they will unite against the occupation.
The current armed resistance, based almost entirely among Sunni Arabs, and to a large extent among supporters of the former regime, is unlikely to be able to evict the occupiers. Some Shi'a groups, including opponents of the former regime, are critical of the occupation, but unwilling to take up arms against it at this time. Many Kurds continue to want independence, and even the PUK and KDP leaders want more autonomy than Washington will grant. Resistance to the occupation, in order to be successful, would have to transcend Iraq's nationality and religious-sectarian divisions.
But clearly, much of the current resistance has a lot of anti-Shia bigotry, whether because they're Baathists, "Wahhabis", or just attached to the traditional Sunni domination of Iraq. I'm all for the victory of any Third-World force attempting to resist imperialism....but you can't expect too much of any bourgeois-led force. "Only the workers and peasants will go all the way" as Sandino said, and he wasn't even a communist.
One reason for the traditional Sunni political dominance: the religous-sectarian division of Iraq does run along class lines to some extent. In areas of mixed population, the Shi'a are disproportionately workers and peasants, and most of the propertied classes are Sunni. Basically because the poor have been more likely to convert to Shi'ism over the past several centuries. Probably Shi'a rejection of existing governments was more appealing to the poor.