Word: sunni
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...Much of the discussion of post-election challenges in Iraq has focused on bringing in the Sunnis, the majority of whom are expected to stay away from the polls on January 30. That's hardly surprising given the scale of the Sunni insurgency, which appears to grow despite the counterinsurgency efforts of 150,000 U.S. troops there. In the past month alone, as much as two thirds of the population has seen insurgent attacks in the districts in which they live; more than half of the population lives in districts that have seen attacks on average every third...
...Finally, there is a shred of hope that the imminent arrival of an independent, majority-Shi'ite government will create a new dynamic within Iraq. The Sunni insurgency remains the dominant fact of life, of course, but significant Sunni groups like the Association of Muslim Scholars have hinted they may cooperate on a new constitution...
...bombs that go off in Baghdad are manufactured in the relative quiet of an arc of Sunni tribal lands around the capital. That is the true heartland of the resistance, where it draws on massive weapons depots secreted in river valleys and deserts. The nationalist fighters who control the area supply Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi's networks with the ammo they use for their deadly operations, according to U.S. military intelligence. Even as more attacks took place last week in the run-up to the election--including mortar rounds on the U.S. embassy that killed two Americans--the Iraqi government...
...Skeptics A number of Sunni organizations, most importantly the popular Iraqi Islamic Party which actually participated in Allawi's government, have pulled out of the election on the grounds that the security situation precludes a credible vote in Sunni areas. These groups joined others, such as former foreign minister Adnan Pachachi and even President Ghazi al-Yawer in urging that consideration be given to postponing the poll in order to improve the security environment in Sunni population centers. When their pleas for postponement were turned down, some like Yawer and Pachachi chose to participate, while others like the Islamic Party...
...areas where the insurgents are expected to be most effective in keeping would-be voters from going to the polls will be their Sunni strongholds in the provinces named above, including the capital, Baghdad. But they have also shown considerable ability to strike far from their home turf, through terror strikes in Najaf, Karbala, Hilla and other Shiite population centers as far south as Basra. In those areas, however, their threat will be countered by the strong sense among the long-marginalized Shiites of the election as an opportunity to claim the power of the majority, and the edict...