Word: sunni
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...covert assistance to the Afghan jihad. It suited the Egyptians and Saudis to ship off the restive Islamist elements who might pose a domestic challenge to wage war on the Soviets, and it suited the U.S. to help rally anti-Soviet sentiment in the Islamic world, particularly among Sunni elements naturally at odds with Iran. That's why a number of former intelligence personnel regard the emergence of the Qaeda phenomenon as 'blowback,' spook jargon for the unintended consequences of a covert operation. What the U.S. and its allies had helped to do in Afghanistan was assemble an international brigade...
...immediate problem facing the U.S.-led Coalition is the impact on Iraqi hearts and minds of its efforts to suppress the violent challenges in the Sunni Triangle and in the Shiite urban neighborhoods. Wednesday the U.S. bombed the walls of a mosque compound in Fallujah from which insurgents had been firing on Marines. Coalition forces have killed scores of Shiites over the past week in battles in Baghdad and in the south, drawing condemnation even from some of the moderate Shiite clerics serving in the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council...
...refrain from violence but at the same time expressing sympathy for their grievances and condemning Coalition actions - many Shiites loyal to Sistani have nonetheless joined protest actions led by the Sadrists. The danger is that the cost in casualties and strife of suppressing Moqtada's intifada and the Sunni insurgency could deepen anti-American feeling among neutral elements in the Sunni and Shiite communities that have not supported violence...
...Indeed, the major problem facing the Coalition in response to the insurgencies is that there is no Iraqi leadership of significant standing among either the Sunni or the Shia speaking unambiguously in support of the Coalition's goals. Some on the Iraqi Governing Council have denounced Moqtada and his calls for violence. Others have focused their ire at Coalition responses. But the U.S. long ago recognized that the IGC has limited support among Iraqis. Far more important than the Coalition military effort eliminate the Mahdi militia will be the stance adopted by Grand Ayatollah Sistani. Even if Moqtada himself...
...More worrying, perhaps, are attempts by both Sadr supporters and Sunni insurgents to reach out across the Sunni-Shiite divide to build a common front of resistance to the U.S.-led occupation. The strongest factor working in the Coalition's favor had been the historic enmity of the long-suffering Shiites for the Baathists who continue to play a leading role in the Sunni insurgency. But, over the past week, Sunni insurgents have expressed support for Sadr, who has called for a rebellion by all sects, and Sunni crowds in Baghdad marched alongside Sadr supporters. That spectacle won't please...