Word: ites
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Even for a government that has shown all the political subtlety of a rampaging rhinoceros, this was an especially maladroit maneuver - and al-Dari's clerical organization, the Association of Muslim Scholars, has moved swiftly to capitalize on it. The Association's spokesmen have accused the Shi'ite prime minister of deliberately stoking sectarian tensions by singling out a 65-year-old Sunni cleric for arrest when tens of thousands of murderous Shi'ite militias and their leaders enjoy the protection of the government. They have also pointed out that a 2004 warrant for the arrest of radical Shi'ite...
...growing sectarian violence - much of it perpetrated on Sunnis by Shi'ite militias - led to disenchantment with the political process, but that didn't automatically translate into a revival of fortunes for the AMS. Many Sunnis turned instead to the insurgency, reasoning that the best protection against armed gunmen would come from other armed gunmen. It didn't help the AMS's cause that its top leadership, including al-Dari himself, has spent much of the past year outside Iraq, trying to rally support among the governments of Sunni Arab nations like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait. The Association seemed...
...Ordinary Sunnis, too, are rallying to al-Dari. Many feel victimized by the Shi'ite political establishment and now see al-Dari as the personification of their community's predicament. On Sunni TV channels, newspapers and Internet bulletin boards, there is an outpouring of vitriol against the government and support for the cleric. A typical message reads: "We are your swords, O Lion Sheikh - From the people of Adhamiya." (Adhamiya is a Sunni-dominated neighborhood of Baghdad.) Several Sunni groups - insurgent, political and social - have paid "homage" to him, which is akin to naming him their spiritual leader...
...been made in a dramatic late-night television appearance by the Interior Minister, who warned that "this is the government's policy against anyone who tries to foment division among Iraq's sects." After a meeting of ministers on the security situation reportedly broke down into a Sunni-Shi'ite shouting match on Tuesday, President Jalal Talabani has moved to convene an urgent conference of Iraqi political leaders to address the crisis...
...center in Iraq, that power is not sufficient to impose Washington's will. There are too many other actors in the field who have enough influence of their own, or in combination, to prevent the U.S. from prevailing. Those power centers range from the Sunni insurgency and the Shi'ite militias to the Iraqi government and Iraq's neighbors, first and foremost Iran...