Word: shied
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...military officers in Iraq often wonder about the possible presence of Iranian operatives in cities south of Baghdad like Karbala and Najaf, two key strongholds for Shi'ite militias thought to have links to Tehran. Many soldiers believe those two cities, home to more than 1.5 million people altogether, are where Shi'ite militants gather, train and arm themselves with help from Iran for attacks against U.S. forces farther north. Some intelligence even suggests that Iran's elite military force, the Revolutionary Guard, has opened training camps in the area for Iraqi guerrillas. But getting a clear picture...
...Muslims and some Christians - wants the presidency for one of its own, in order to press forward with measures intended to stop what they see as examples of Syrian and Iranian interference: weapons smuggling and political assassinations. But Hizballah, which wants a candidate who won't interfere with the Shi'a Muslim militant group's attempt to rearm itself for the seemingly never-ending struggle with Israel, has found common cause with those Christians who have been suspicious of the Lebanese government's alliance with America. (Many Christians worry that the U.S. wants to permanently resettle Palestinian refugees - most...
...series of checks and balances that keeps governments weak and any one religious group from holding too much power. Thus, major official positions such as the president (who must be Christian), the prime minister (who must be Sunni Muslim) and the speaker of parliament (who must be Shi'a Muslim) are usually chosen by a process that includes both elections and negotiation. The idea is to have national consensus and avoid the kind of disputes that led to the 15-year civil war that ended...
...things that appealed to the Americans who work with these Sunni groups was their apparent incorruptibility. Unlike the unreliable and incompetent members of the largely Shi'ite Iraqi Army and police, Sunni tribes and nationalist insurgents seem thoroughly committed to a goal that resonates with Americans: keeping their families and their communities safe...
...slow end to a sizzling summer along the shores of the eastern Mediterranean has brought harvest season to the Bekaa Valley. The fertile basin just over Lebanon's coastal mountain range may be well known as a hotbed of Shi'ite militancy that has at various times hosted some of the world's most notorious terrorists, but it is also home to Lebanon's wine industry. It's a very Lebanese experience to watch Bedouin farm workers in the early morning light that illuminates distant mosques, as they carry crateloads of grapes to be pressed into a liquid that Islamic...