Shiites, Sunnis, "The Others" and their Agendas

Matters have continued to worsen in Iraq for the past few years. What is important to understand about this turmoil is that what may seem like a country specific conflict is slowly spreading regionally and has the potential to spread globally. Everyone regardless of their geographical location could be impacted as a result of this mayhem directly or indirectly. This article summarizes three basic questions about this conflict – What are the current facts? What is at risk and what could be done to contain the situation?

Many groups exist within the Shias and Sunnis. The first Shia (Shiite) group includes parties blessed by Ayatollah al-Sistani, while the other is the one led by Al-Sadr. On the Sunni side, one group (the insurgency) includes Iraqis as well as the foreign fighters. The other Sunni group on the other hand has shown some willingness to participate in the political process and has been cooperating with the US and it’s allies. Most of the Kurds fall into that group.

The situation in Iraq is very worrisome. It’s worrisome for all concerned parties – The soldiers in the middle of the battlefield, for the masses of Iraq, for Muslims all over the world, and for the region in general. All should be worried. If anyone is getting used to the situation by hearing the same news daily, then the fact that the situation in Iraq could have a potential global impact should be a wakeup call for everyone. Here are the critical facts:

• Multi-party Battleground – Iraq started out as a battlefield for the American led allied forces and Saddam Hussein’s Baath party loyalists. Later, it transformed into a battlefield for the Sunni insurgents and the American led forces. Now, a few months later, the battlefield has become a many-to-many fighting gala. Hostilities exist between different Sunni and Shiite groups and fighting rages on at different levels. The Americans and Sunni insurgency are fighting daily battles and now Sunni and Shiite groups from the general population have started to engage each other as well. Many incidents have led to this. Shiites in general have started to believe that Sunni’s are after killing all Shiites. Sunnis on the other hand do not trust the Iraqi police that are largely made up of Shiites. Recently, these hostilities have even been further fueled after allegations of rape by Shiite led Iraqi forces against Sunni women. All groups are fighting and chasing away the other from towns, cities and villages across the country.

• The Sunni apprehension: – The Middle Eastern media is replete with assertions and conspiracy theories regarding the Shiite movement to spread Shiism across all Muslim nations. One of the Jordanian newspapers wrote about the Shiite conspirators' agenda to “assassinate key Sunni leaders." Iran is being blamed by some to spearhead the agenda of reviving the Persian Safavid dynasty, which came to power in the 16th century.

True or not, the fact that the Sunni street in the Middle East has started to buy into the alleged Shiite (Shia) agenda, poses a grave danger. The emergence of the first Arab Shiite leadership in recent times is making more people convinced about this agenda. The situation in Iraq poses a great danger in fueling Shiite (Shia) Sunni tensions even in countries that to date seem to be safe from this turmoil. With Sunnis believing that Shiites are out to convert all Sunnis to Shiaism and raping their women, while Shiites believing that Sunnis are out to kill all Shiites is setting the stage for the emergence of worldwide hatred between the Shiites and Sunnis – something that every Muslim should fear and take very seriously.

• Conflicting regional agendas: – Various regional Iraqi neighbors have their own conflicting agendas. Iran for example wants to see a Shia controlled government. On the other hand, other Sunni Gulf States would rather have a Sunni controlled government in Iraq. The regional powers’ agendas therefore will have to be reconciled before a clam is to be expected.

• “Us versus them”: Questions remain whether Sunnis and Shiites are truly killing each other in Iraq based on hatred of each other’s religious convictions or whether it’s just an “us versus them” mentality that has engulfed even the secular minded Shiites and Sunnis. One wonders about this as years of Saddam rule rarely saw hatred of such levels. Saddam did not oppress Shiites because of their religious beliefs – rather he eliminated anyone who challenged his power, including Sunnis. On the same token, he had Shiites and Christians both in his inner circle.

If this is true, then something will have to done at the government levels because the US vs. THEM mentality has caused more bloodshed in human history than any other reason.