Word: sunni
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...aiming to kill any Iraqi insurgents who might be taking cover inside. Buildings throughout the city lay in smoldering ruins in the wake of days of U.S. tank assaults and air strikes. It is not surprising that a ferocious battle erupted in Fallujah--the heart of the so-called Sunni triangle, where those loyal to Saddam Hussein and his thuggish regime have made their most violent stands.. The Marine-led assault on the city was intended to deliver to the enemy fighters their long-delayed reckoning in what the U.S. billed as the latest critical offensive in its campaign...
...close to the heart of many Iraqis, more so since they became an occupied people themselves. Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin drew a firestorm of criticism across the political spectrum in Iraq, and became a rallying point for anti-American violence that bridged the Shiite-Sunni divide. Signing off on Sharon's settlement policy and preemptively trashing the longstanding Arab shibboleth of a Palestinian "right of return" is unlikely to win the U.S. many friends in Iraq or among its neighbors - and right now, it could use a few more...
...spite of its numerous failures, the United States’ Iraq endeavor has recently produced a notable—albeit unexpected—union of traditionally opposed Shi’a and Sunni Muslims. Instead of being treated as liberators, American troops have become the common enemy for everyone in Iraq except for the reliably pro-U.S. Kurds in the North. The country’s main sects have come together in shared hatred for the U.S. occupation. Indeed, in the face of brutal mutilations of American civilians in the Sunni triangle and the unexpected success of insurgencies...
...recent Sunni-Shiite common front has demonstrated that the U.S. military presence in Iraq just isn’t cutting it, especially when the Americans can’t keep effective control of major cities such as Falluja and Ramadi. No longer are occupational troops only forced to quell the small-time operations of Sunni extremists, whose attacks—though demoralizing—were less destructive and more infrequent before the recent assistance of Shiite militia. Rather, the current alliance has resulted in increasing violence and a loss of control in important cities, while continuing to refute President Bush?...
...Unlike their patron, a number of IGC members appear to recognize the Sunni insurgents and the Sadr supporters as an intractable reality - they're rooted in sections of Iraqi society, and won't be eliminated simply through military action. The dilemma facing U.S. officials on the ground is likely to become even more acute in the coming days given the efforts of IGC members to mediate solutions both in Fallujah and in the south. If the U.S. declines to accept those outcomes - which are not exactly palatable to the U.S. given its stated objectives in each case - the result will...