THE SHIITE-SUNNI WAR IN IRAQ
History and Analysis
eastwind journals 106
By Bernie Lopez
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Disclaimer – the views in this article are those of the author’s alone.
The Shiites who formed Islam were the relatives of Mohamed. The Sunnis were his inner circle who formed their own sect. At the very start, upon Mohamed’s death, there were two rival Islamic factions.
The British created the State of Iraq from the rubble of the Ottoman Empire (1453-1922), installing the Sunni Kings in power according to its interests in extracting oil, unmindful of the ethnic differences which are today the source of the powder-keg situation. The Shiite majority and the Persian Sunni Kurdish minority in the north were thus suppressed and exploited, and the ruling Sunni majority grew rich and powerful.
Before the US invasion of Iraq, the authoritarian and vicious Sunni regime of Saddam Hussein held the nation precariously together. The US invasion saw the fall of the Sunnis and the rise of and government take-over by the oppressed Shiite majority. The subsequent US withdrawal created a power vacuum, an opportunity for the Sunnis to once more rise in power. The revenge of the ruling Shiites against the deposed Sunnis helped create more hatred in preparation to war.
This is the essence of the current Iraq civil war. The hub of the Sunni rebellion is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a conglomeration of Sunni communities in Northern Iraq where most of the oil is found. US intervention hopes to neutralize ISIS in the oil-rich north. The Iranian Shiites are helping the Iraq government suppress the Sunni rebellion. So ironically, arch-enemies (Americans-Iranians, and Iraqis-Iranians) may become temporary allies.
The ISIS is dangerous in that it is well-organized, well-funded, well-armed, and resorts to deadly no-prisoners massacres. It is clandestinely funded by rich Sunni-dominated states, both private and public sectors, particularly Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. ISIS is a breakaway from Al Queda in Iraq (AQI), which was scattered by US forces during Iraqi occupation. Documents taken in recently recaptured areas revealed ISIS has about $900 million dollars in assets, but new findings of windfalls from oil fields in eastern Syria and priceless archaeological treasures reveal their assets are more like $2billion. ISIS represents Sunnis looting Shiite assets in the turmoil of the Syrian rebellion. (Source – http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/16/terrifying-rise-of-isis-iraq-executions).
There are four scenarios. One, there is a protracted never-ending civil war between Sunni and Shiites that will weaken Iraq, which is what Israel wants. Two, the anti-American Sunni ISIS succeeds in carving the north into an independent sub-nation, in spite of the US trying hard to prevent it because of the oil. The split of Iraq into Shiite and Sunni enclaves insures peace. Three, the Sunni rebellion is suppressed by the Shiite government, and Iraq lives again in its precarious Shiite rule. Four, the Sunnis win and take over, which will see the massacre of the majority Shiites, and pit Shiite Iran against Sunni Iraq once more.
If the Shiites win in Iraq, there may rise a powerful trilateral Shiite bloc composed of Iran, Iraq, and Syria, if Syria manages to stay Shiite after its current rebellion. But the bloc is not monolithic. Through the centuries of wars, there are pockets of Sunnis in Shiite lands, and pockets of Shiites in Sunni lands in the entire Middle East. Integration means peace. Separation means war. Co-existence is the cure for war. If this is impossible, war is inevitable.
The US is not getting tired of expensive interventions everywhere, such as in Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt, Lybia, Syria, and now Iraq again, in spite of its economy heading towards a meltdown. US global omnipresence is fuelled by an ‘intervention addiction’ which reflects its hegemonic character. Most of their interventions so far have been a failure in terms of pursuing US interests. The Middle East energy wars are becoming a catalyst to the fall rather than strengthening of the American Empire. This is in spite of the Wall Street – Pentagon partnership inducing wars for huge profits in weapons production, which will boomerang, if there is a meltdown. eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com
fallen is babylon the great (iraq?)
for all nations (us/uk/eu?)
have drunk the wine (oil?)
of her licentious passion
depart from her My people
so as not to take part in her sins
and receive a share in her plagues
for her sins are piled up to the skies
her plagues will come in one day
pestilence, grief, famine
she will be consumed by fire
for mighty is the Lord that judges her
the kings of the earth (us/uk/eu?)
who had intercourse with her
the merchants of the earth (oil multinationals?)
who grew rich from her luxury
will all weep and mourn over her
for in a single hour (nuclear holocaust?)the markets for their cargoes will vanish
this great wealth will be ruined
revelations 18:2-17 excerpts
the most powerful kings shall gather
in the battlefield of armaggedon
to lay havoc the earth
fire and darkness shall usher in
the angel of death
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth
and those who survive
would wish they were dead
as the wrath of the Lord
is upon a sinful earth
and man's only recourse is
is to return to the Lord
in prayer and repentance
revelation / eastwind
for those who need healing, go to
amdg
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