Friday September 1, 2006

I've Been Thinking:

68 dead in yesterday's rash of coordinated terror in Iraq.
48 killed in inter-group conflicts in Baghdad.
Most of the attacks were on Shiites - in Shiite centers, in Shiite communities even in a Shiite medical clinic.

What's behind this spate of violence in Iraq?
The internal struggle between Shiites and Sunnis.

Sunnis believe the Shiites are operating death squads so they are striking out.
Shiites believe that the Sunnis are attacking their holy sites and that they are trying to intimidate the masses and influence the political landscape in order to improve their standing. Shiites are afraid to go to their mosques out of fear that the mosque will be attacked.

These tensions have existed for hundreds of years. They will not disappear with the passing of a magic wand.
They are only front and center and brought to our attention now because now is when the United States is in Iraq.
If the United States were not in Iraq now the Western world would neither know nor care that Muslims are killing Muslims.

There are great tensions in Iraq between sects - but it is not a civil war.
It is the status quo.