Thursday, June 17, 2010

Who should lead Iraqi government?

' “Any government without Iyad Allawi would be a disaster for Iraq, especially for its security,” says Muwafaq al-Rubaie, a former national-security adviser under Mr Maliki. The Sunni insurgency that still persists would get a fillip. Virtually all prominent politicians across the spectrum say that all four of the main alliances—Mr Allawi’s Iraqiya, Mr Maliki’s State of Law group, the Iraqi National Alliance in which Mr Sadr’s people predominate, and the Kurds—should come together, each well represented in a grand coalition.

But the animosity between Sunni and Shia Arabs means it is still uncertain that Mr Allawi will get a senior job, let alone the prime minister’s. Iraqi Shias still feel, after a millennium of being treated as lowlier than the Sunnis despite being a majority, that they deserve the political cake unshared. “They far prefer dealing with a harassing [Sunni] insurgency than with what they see as a lethal fifth column embedded within the state apparatus”, writes Joost Hiltermann of International Crisis Group, a conflict-resolution outfit.

For their part, most Sunni Arabs, who ran the show under Saddam Hussein, doggedly refuse even to admit that they are a numerical minority. There has been no full census since 1987 and precise sectarian data have been unavailable for even longer. But most independent pundits reckon Shia Arabs make up more than half the population, Sunni Arabs less than a quarter, Kurds (most of whom are Sunni) around a fifth, while Turkomans, Christians and others make up the rest.'

6 comments :

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi said...

The notion that the Shi'a have been the majority in Mesopotamia for over a millenium is nonsense. It is true that cities such as Karbala and Najaf have had significant Shi'a populations for over a millenium, but the Shi'a were not a majority until the mid 19th century as the majority of Iraqi Shi'a are descendants of recent converts from the nomadic tribes that settled and took up agriculture in the fertile plains in the south and around Baghdad.

Aton said...

What is an Arab?

Dolly said...

Vali Nasr:
"Hanbali jurists, who condemned Shias as rafidis, or rejecters of the Truth."

Raafidhi means rejector of Abu Bakr and 3Umar.

There are 72 deviant sects: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTBwVEww2qQ

The reason Shia are worse, is that a kaafir asli (original unbeliever) can still be invited to islaam.

Aton said...

Bruno is the disgrace who cheered the terrorist bombing campaigns of innocent women and children shopping in Iraqi markets.

Aton said...

"New Video: 'Peace Activists' Planning Violence"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSYjuDEZw1w&feature=player_embedded

Don Cox said...

"Sunnis' demonization of Shiism, which regards the faith as a heresy and a bigger threat to "true" Islam than Christianity and Judaism.'"

Generally, believers hate those whose beliefs are close to their own much more than they hate those whose beliefs are totally different. You can see this in the constant splitting of socialists and Marxists into smaller and smaller groups, all hating each other.

A person whose views differ from yours in only one or two points is scary because he could open up a crack in your 100% certain world.