Word: sectarianism
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...hatred of the al-Maliki government, which he accuses of "serving foreign masters" - a reference to the close ties of leading Shi'ite politicians to Iran. The loathing is mutual. Top government leaders, from President Jalal Talabani on down, have described al-Dari as an inciter of ethnic and sectarian violence. Last November, the Interior Ministry issued a warrant for his arrest. Ever since, he has divided his time between several Arab states, monitoring al-Maliki's actions from afar. Not even the Prime Minister's recent decision to allow many former Baath Party officials back into government has impressed...
...Like many other Sunni leaders, al-Dari says al-Maliki's efforts at sectarian reconciliation have been empty promises. "All he does is say, 'Come and join us,' " he says. "But he doesn't change any of the things that make us feel we are being victimized by his administration." For there to be any meaningful reconciliation, he says, the government must first dismantle the interior and defense ministries, which are currently controlled by Shi'ite parties, and bring back some senior officers from the old army. "Once these ministries are under the control of professionals instead of sectarian interests...
...theocracy? Starting last month, in a tropical country of 65 million, thousands of faithful, many dressed in religious garb, have marched the capital's streets demanding that the draft of the new constitution currently being debated enshrine their beliefs as the state faith. In our era of sectarian strife, many of us shudder at the prospect of another nation blending church and state. Look what happened in Iran and Afghanistan, we think, or what might have occurred if former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke had reigned supreme in America. Yet the marches in Thailand barely broke international headlines...
Three decades of sectarian conflict faded, at least temporarily, when Protestant Democratic Unionist Party head Ian Paisley, 81, became Northern Ireland's First Minister and Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness, 56, became Deputy First Minister. The historic union of Northern Ireland's major Protestant and Catholic parties prompted praise from Paisley for the "new beginning" and an optimistic declaration from Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams: "We are going to succeed...
Asked in Red Oak how she would disengage from Iraq, she gave a precise, nuanced and up-to-the-minute answer: Withdraw the troops from the areas of sectarian conflict like Baghdad, keep a small force fighting al-Qaeda in al-Anbar province, move some troops to the Turkish border, protect the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and other civilian facilities, maintain a special-operations capability. And then, instead of the usual lip service to training Iraqi forces, she said, "We may also leave some forces to help train the Iraqis if there seems a chance this Iraqi government will...