Sunni-Shiite Tensions Rise in Baghdad

[Barrett808]

Sunni-Shiite Tensions Rise in Baghdad
By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - In the poor neighborhood of Hurriyah, there was praise for Osama bin Laden, nostalgia for the days of Saddam Hussein and deep resentment of Shiite Muslims.

Two days after an attack on a Sunni mosque that was blamed on radical Shiites, the western Baghdad district was rife with sectarian tension Thursday — a bad sign for a nation whose ethnic and religious divisions had been kept in check for decades under Saddam.

Eight months after the U.S.-led coalition ousted Saddam from power, the threat of conflict is real. Many Iraqis blame the occupation, citing the lawlessness and chaos that prevail in post-Saddam Iraq .

"This is all the work of America," concluded Farouk Khamis, the imam of the stricken mosque. "It's divide and rule."

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=ap/iraq_sunnis___shiites

[htuttle]

1. I have to say that I have the same suspicions as Farouk Khamis

It would be in the US's administration's interests to stir up strife between the Shia and Sunni in Iraq.

If the Shia and Sunni started working together with a common goal (and common demands), if that goal weren't what the Bush administration wanted, there'd be little they could do about it.

How much did Saddam really prevent Sunni/Shia violence when he was in power? I'm sure he would have prevented Shia on Sunni violence, but I doubt he'd be as concerned about Sunni on Shia violence. It struck me that the relationship between Saddam, the Sunni and the Shia was similar, if not in scale or intensity, to that of PM Vajpayee of India, the Hindu elite and India's Muslims. It's fairly apparent that Vajpayee isn't as concerned about Hindus killing Muslims as the reverse.

When they say 'blamed on radical Shiites', when it comes down to it, all they probably really know is that it was '3 guys on motorcycles wearing a Shia-styled head covering', if that much.

Hmmm....did anyone see if they happened to have blue eyes?