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Rifts Deepen Between Iraqi CommunitiesPosted on Aug 21, 2007Patrick Cockburn Editor’s Note: This column originally appeared in The Independent. Iraq’s three main communities each responded differently to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the occupation of 2003. Their responses deepened the divisions between them. The Sunni, about 20 per cent of Iraq’s 27 million population and the dominant community for hundreds of years, supported armed resistance to the US from the beginning. The Shia, 60 per cent of Iraqis, did not resist the occupation so long as they could take power through elections as they believe they deserved to do as a majority. This attitude to the US may now be changing. Only the Kurds, also 20 per cent of Iraqis, fully back the US presence. Ethnic and sectarian animosities in Iraq were always deeper than most Iraqis admitted but divisions have turned into chasms. There are fewer and fewer mixed neighbourhoods in Baghdad. The Shia, probably three-quarters of the capital’s population, are pushing back the Sunni into the south-west corner. Some 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes, becoming refugees either inside or outside the country according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. The Sunni have never really accepted the Shia predominance, claiming that they are Iranian puppets. Adnan al-Dulaimi, the head of the largest bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, warned this week that Baghdad was in danger of falling into the hands of the “Persians” and “Safawis”, the Iranian dynasty that adopted Shi’ism. Advertisement Some of the oldest communities in the world are disappearing. Christians who remain are often asked to pay a special tax to insurgents or convert to Islam. The Mandean community in Baghdad was once famous for its soothsayers, goldsmiths and jewellers but their presumed wealth again made them a favourite target of criminals. The size of minorities is often not known because most exaggerate their numbers. The Turkoman are mostly concentrated in or around Kirkuk but are also dominant in the city of Tal Afar west of Mosul. Turkey has made their cause its own but a bomb in a Shia Turkoman village south of Kirkuk killed 210 people and wounded 400 on 7 July. They may have been targeted by al-Qa’ida because they were Shia rather than because they were Turkoman. Nineveh province, the capital of which is Mosul, is a mosaic of communities. There are 350,000 Yazidis with a religion which draws on Zoroastrianism, Manicheanism, Judaism, early Christianity and Islam. There are also Shabaks who speak a variant of Kurdish and live mostly to the east of Mosul city. The Kurdish authorities would like to see both these groups voting as Kurds to join the Kurdistan Regional Government in a referendum to be held by the end of the year.
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By Dan Uu Noel, September 5, 2007 at 9:02 pm #
Deep apologies to everyone on this blog…I pasted the wrong comment…and according to Murphy’s law, this one went through…
Here is what I meant to write:
Actually, it would make a lot of sense for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for some time:
1) As Colin Powell said, the U.S. broke Iraq, so it owns it.
2) Letting the Iraqis settle their scores would keep exposing non-combatant civilians to atrocities based on religion, politics or other arbitrary factors.
Instead, U.S. troops ought to focus ASAP on setting up refugee camps for Iraqi civilians. With millions of Iraqis displaced and millions more threatened with murder, protecting them ought to be the highest priority.
But, thinking of the big pictures, maybe U.S. forces will have other priorities as long as the Iraqi government fails to enact the long-awaited Oil Law that will translate into the distribution 30-year leases to Houston-based outfits.
Big apologies once again, with love,
Report thisBy Dan Uu Noel, September 5, 2007 at 8:58 pm #
Go figure my complaint got posted as soon as I logged it; let’s try the original comment; here it comes
It cannot be overemphasized that the Democrats blinders on the war on terror did not start with the futile Iraq war, not even with the Afghan war, but with 9/11. While any discerning high-school kid can gather enough information on the web to convince him/herself that the U.S. government engineered 9/11, probably in the hope of instilling a worldwide climate of insane fear, so-called opponents of the Bush administration in Congress, assisted by an incomprehensibly compliant mainstream media, keep following it in close step every time it raises the prospect of a 9/11-prime.
As long as the Democratic Party chooses to not recognize 9/11 for the farce that any reasonable individual knows it to be, it will keep lacking the most basic reason, and therefore the resolve, to stop the madness.
Love,
Report thisBy Dan Uu Noel, September 5, 2007 at 8:55 pm #
Strange I have tried to post a comment twice; it has never made it to the blog, even though
Report this1) as a registered user, I supposedly enjoyed the privilege of unmoderated comments;
2) my comment is clear, straight to the point, well written;
3) my comment does not contain foul language or ad hominem attacks;
4) my comment puts on this theme a different perspective from Patrick Cockburn without disagreeing with him.
Does anyone have any clue as to what may be going on?
By Howard, August 28, 2007 at 12:00 am #
3 CHEERRS FOR LILMAMZER !!! A nice article above on explaining the background of the people in Iraq. And yet some pundits here with absolutely no reason to bring it up start their hysterics against Israel. What a fixation they have. No matter what the article they bring up the same country over and over. Lilmamzer replies nicely to these inane commentators.
Report thisBy 1drees, August 27, 2007 at 2:53 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
LILMAMZER, you wreak of the TYPICAL ZIONIST RANTS.
OK, if the IRAQIs are torturing 5 year olds, THATS all the more reason for you to go there AND DO SOMETHING SINCE YOU FEEL THAT WHAT IS GOING ON IS RIGHT so CUT THE DAILY BLAH BLAH BLAH AND GO THERE AND MAKE SOME REAL MONEY DOING SOME REAL KILLINGS AS PER YOUR ZIONIST NATURE. ( average pay us$1000 per day, tax free. go to your bretheren in CACI or KB&R etc)
and ABOUT THE RIGHT OF SELF DETERMINATION, YOU SHOULD DO THAT IN YOUR OWN HOME, NOT AFTER ENCROACHING IN SOMEONE ELSE’S. be it PALESTINE OR USA.
YOU MIGHT NEVER EVER BE ABLE TO TELL, BUT THE ZIONISTS ARE FATALLY DETRIMENTAL TO THE RIGHT OF SELF DETERMINATION OF MANY OTHER PEOPLE, DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT ITS NOT ONLY THE ZIONISTS THAT HAVE A RIGHT OF SELF DETERMINATION? oh crap I FORGOT, THEY ARE JUST GOYIMIs, equavalent to “cattle” so in your views they certainly dont.
YES, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DO NEED TO KEEP CALLING THEIR CONGRESS-PEOPLE TO BE HEARD, TO BE ABLE TO EXPRESS THEIR VIEWS. MAYBE THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO IT THE SAME WAY AS YOU, THE ZIONISTS, DO, BY LEAVING MESSAGES ON THE NOTICE BOARDS OF HAARTEZ OR THE JERUSALEM POST ( a short but detailed message containing the phone number and what message to repeat to the Congress-people), THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NEED TO BE HEARD AND ATLEAST THEY DESERVE A SHOT AT TRYING TO MAKE THE SILENT MAJORITY OF THEM HEARD MAYBE BY TELEPHONE CAMPAIGNS LIKE THE ONES RUN BY THE AIPAC ETC.
YES THE IRAQIs are FREEDOM FIGHTERS AS THEY ARE TRYING TO DEFEND THEIR LIVES BEING THREATENNED BY DAILY SEARCHES,DEPLETED URANIUM CONTAMINATIONS ETC ETC. BUT FOR YOU THAT IS A NORMAL LIFE OF A GOYIMI, right?
“chosen people” yeah! right. “chosen” to rob, steal, pillage and LIE.
ONCE AGAIN I REPEAT, ” lilmamzer, get off your ministry of propaganda ass and if you want to do something go fight the freedom fighters of IRAQ.”
PEOPLE BOYCOTT EVERYTING ZIONIST & ISRAELI. STOP SUPPORTING THE ZIONIST WARMONGERING GENOCIDAL MANIACS FOR THE SAKE OF WORLDPEACE & HUMANITY.
Report thisBy lilmamzer, August 22, 2007 at 7:40 pm #
#96362 by 1drees
lilmamzer, get off your ministry of propaganda ass and if you want to do somthing go fight the freedom fighters of IRAQ.
“Freedom fighters of Iraq”? You mean the ones who routinely blow up Iraqi citizens? And most recently set fre to a 5 year old boy?
So when ARE you going to Gaza and show us what you are made of already? You are so hot to damn the Zionists every day on Truthdig.
It’s time for you to walk the walk instead of just talking the talk.
How is your comfy chair and Starbucks frappucino today, anyway? Yummy?
Report thisBy eric swan, August 22, 2007 at 6:09 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
re: Cockburns “Rifts deepen…” The Bushies have always intended to destroy Iraq as a country. What seems like incomprehensible incompetence is in reallity a series of calculated moves to divide and occupy the 3 weak minny states that Iraq is becoming.
Report thisBy 1drees, August 22, 2007 at 1:24 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
lilmamzer, get off your ministry of propaganda ass and if you want to do somthing go fight the freedom fighters of IRAQ. About the ZIONISTS, if you read recent history or if you been reading the papers you will notice that these people have been not been doing temselves any favors by treating nonZIOISTS very callously and after that I dont really expect them to get much good news out of their recent dealings with all goyims. AND its not that the ARABS or NONZIONISTS are biased against the jews or ZIONISTS, its just that these blooming genuises on their lying brainwashes dont leave othersmuchof a choice except to resist their actions which although not presented in the ZIONIST MEDIA of the North America BUT they are omniprsentin all other newspapers, so if you never heard it, doesnt mean it never happenned. Now go figure. i do wish you had been reading 3 or 4 independent nonzionist newspapers like me for thepast 15 or 20 years coz that might haveinformed you of some things never going to appear on CNN & FOX. this US administrationisnot the first LIAR ADMINISTRATION and certainly wont be the last, as Rumsfeld would say ” all indicators are indicating” that American situationis going to get far worse before the rest of the world unites to neutralis the American Arsenal. And GWB and cronies did start agression with everyone including RUSSIA , so try and think of the possible logical outcomes of your governements bunglings & misbehaviors on the global stage. GOODLUK and happy thinking to those who can.
Report thisBy ~B~, August 22, 2007 at 10:54 am #
Divided we fell.
Divided Iraq will continue to fall.
Divided is how they want us and how they keep us - for a reason.
B
http://b-political.blogspot.com/
Report thisBy lilmamzer, August 22, 2007 at 10:51 am #
#96284 by 1DREES
BOYCOTT ZIONISM & ISRAELI PRODUCTS TO GIVEPEACE & HUMANITY A CHANCE, STOP FUNDING THE WARMONGERING GENOCIDAL MANIACS who follow PROTOCOLS OF ZION.
Since you feel so strongly about Jews and denying their right to self-determination, I’m sure you’ll be going to Gaza to fight them, right?
Can we expect letters from you soon telling us how you are contributing in the fight against the Jews? Or will you just leave the dirty work to others while you sit behind your computer in comfort and safety and enjoy a mocha frappucino as you post more inane things on the internet?
Report thisBy 1DREES, August 22, 2007 at 3:26 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
Well the deep DIVISIONS that certain people keep quoting to stay in IRAQ are nothing but a result of the massive amount of Mercinary activity that is not covered by any law. These mercinaries number as much as 180,000, are paid about $1000per day, do not wear uniforms, and are provided any equipment they need just as soon as they walk into a base,no questions are ever asked. These unlisted but highly paid individuals been carrying out false flag operations that have given rise to some friction BUT EVEN THEN MALIKI asked the Americans to leave BUT GWB cannot hear that at all. The genocides of MUSLIMS in IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN goes on unchecked under the supervision of the corporations that keep crying over the HOLLOWCAUST. Gross violations of HUMANRIGHTS by the AmeroZionists goes on everyday and the use of illegal weapons is there too but the “embedded journalists” cant “see” it, coz the pays are too good and then there is NO TAXES to pay. BOYCOTT ZIONISM & ISRAELI PRODUCTS TO GIVEPEACE & HUMANITY A CHANCE, STOP FUNDING THE WARMONGERING GENOCIDAL MANIACS who follow PROTOCOLS OF ZION.
Report thisBy farmertx, August 21, 2007 at 10:54 pm #
Hard to believe that all that happened. And after Shrub went to so much trouble to give them Democracy and Freedom.
Report thisLeast his daddy had sense enough to quit while he was ahead. I disagreed with his dad’s decision, until he explained his reason’s.
That made sense.
‘Course, Shrub takes his advice from a higher Father. That Father needs to get into rehab and get off whatever he is using to get higher.
And you thought the Shrub meant God when he mentioned “higher Father”?
Just like his idea of Whirled Peas. But, you get the idea.