Word: shied
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...civilians inside the walled-off area lament the inconvenience and the effect on the local economy, their greatest fear is for the long-term survival of their community. They worry that the wall isn't about security at all, but is rather an effort to fence them in while Shi?ite militia clear the rest of the neighborhood of its Sunni residents...
...past year cajoling the Iraqis over them - reaching out to the Sunnis by reopening talks on the constitution, passing a new oil law guaranteeing an equitable sharing of revenues across the regions, reversing most of the purge of former Baathists from political life and government employment, and dismantling sectarian Shi'ite militias. The response of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been to verbally reassure U.S. envoys all the way up to President Bush, but then to, if not quite ignore U.S. demands, either interpret them so broadly as to make them meaningless, or else simply stall. Al-Maliki...
...leadership knows that the U.S. didn't invade their country out of concern for their well-being. It went to war in order to secure its own objectives - and that's exactly what the main Iraqi political factions are doing, too. (Indeed, it's hardly surprising that both the Shi'ite and Kurdish parties that dominate the current government are more inclined to pursue their own objectives than follow Washington's script, since each has bitter memories of being abandoned by the U.S. during their abortive uprisings against Saddam in 1991.) A U.S. withdrawal, after all, would mean abandoning many...
...turn to Iran - even China might be willing to kick in a few billion if that could buy an edge in oil deals. Nor does there appear to be any plausible scenario for replacing al-Maliki. The days when a strongman regime might be able to contain Shi'ite aspirations are long gone: today's Iraqi army is predominantly Shi'ite, after all, and the Shi'ite street - answering to Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani - could make Iraq ungovernable by any regime that lacks their consent...
...already seems to have for the majority of the American public. But postponing that moment as long as possible has its advantages, allowing the Iraqi factions to build their own strength while trying to direct U.S. firepower against their foes. Even Sadr, keeping one foot in the government of Shi'ite power and the other on the streets denouncing the Americans, is demanding a timetable...