Word: shying
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Baghdad [Aug. 29], omitted an important conclusion. The Bush Administration has indeed put unprecedented effort into the war on terrorism, especially in Iraq. But instead of quenching the passion for jihad, the Administration's heavy-handed actions have stoked it. Worse yet, the centuries-old, long-dormant hatred between Shi'ites and Sunnis threatens to spill into a horrendous civil war, with wider implications outside Iraq. And one thing is sure: appointing the same exiled career politicians to power isn't going to solve anything. Abhishek Bhattacharyya Bangalore, India A Deadly Policy The killing of Jean Charles de Menezes...
...Baghdad knows Washington is not going to withdraw troops or decrease aid because the stakes of failure in Iraq are too high for the United States to abandon it prematurely. So there aren't many levers left to the Americans to influence the Iraqis. And without that influence, the Shi'ites and Kurds are free to engage in zero-sum politics, such as the constitutional process where there was little effort to accommodate Sunnis, even though America deemed Sunni inclusion crucial to undermining the insurgency and worked hard to pressure the Shi'ites and Kurds to comply...
...Shi'ites doing this? Because they're betting that if the insurgency metastasizes into a full-scale civil war, they will receive U.S. backing against the Sunnis. This point was driven home by al-Hakim's son, Ammar, in Washington last month when he called for a "strategic alliance between Najaf and Washington." Najaf is the holiest city for the world's Shi'ites, and Shi'ites make up 60 percent of Iraq. Sunnis, however, make up about 85 percent of the world's Muslims. Taking the Shi'ite's sides in Iraq might buy them influence in that country...
...Shi'ites support the constitution...
...Moqtada al-Sadr, leader of millions of poor Shi'ites in Sadr City in Baghdad and across the south, appears to be leaning against the constitution and his followers have demonstrated alongside Sunnis over the issue of federalism. SCIRI, Badr and Dawa all support the constitution. Significantly, they all have support from Iran while al-Sadr's relationship with Iraq's Persian neighbor has been stormy. His opposition to the constitution is more about limiting the influence of Iran rather than hard opposition to the principle of Iraqi federalism, while SCIRI and Badr are packed with Iranian sympathizers...