Word: sunni
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...Friday, in what has become a daily occurrence, rockets or mortars slammed into the Green Zone, the heavily fortified central Baghdad sector that houses U.S. diplomats and the Iraqi government. One of the attacks hit the compound of the Sunni politician Tariq al-Hashimi, one of Iraq's vice presidents. The New York Times reported that one of his security guards had been killed. U.S. Embassy staff have been instructed to limit the time they spend outdoors and to wear helmets, flak vests and eye protection when they leave hardened structures...
...major military offensive against the Mahdi Army in Basra, there were mixed reactions. There was anger and resentment among poor, long-oppressed Shi'ites, like the 2 million residents of Baghdad's massive Sadr City slum, for whom the black-clad Mahdi militia are heroes providing protection from Sunni terrorists and civic services like medical clinics and free schools. Their leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, has called for nationwide protests, and his supporters have clashed with Iraqi and American forces in several cities. Security forces are bracing for massive protests in Sadr City, named after his father, a revered cleric murdered...
...Maliki government turned a blind eye to this murderous campaign, blaming only "rogue" elements of the Mahdi Army. Given Sadr's political clout, a direct confrontation could have brought down the government. Besides, with Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda terrorists still attacking Shi'ite neighborhoods, an offensive against the Mahdi Army would likely have been unpopular with Shi'ites of all classes...
...forces in the south, it would mean reopening a southern front where American forces once fought some of the Iraq war's fiercest battles against Sadr but now have only a shadow presence. That would involve draining the concentration of surge troops around Baghdad and the Sunni triangle. It might even require more troop extensions or additional deployments to hold ground and maintain modest gains. Moving against the Shi'ite strongholds could then open opportunities for the Sunni fighters of al-Qaeda to strike Iraqi and U.S. targets in the Sunni triangle as the American heat turns south...
...expected. It was just a matter of timing," said Vali Nasr, Tufts University scholar and author of the bestselling book, The Shi'a Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future. "The ceasefire and the surge allowed everyone to regroup and rearm. There is still the Shi'a-Sunni conflict. There is still the Sadr-Badr conflict. The surge and the ceasefire merely kept them apart, but there has never been a real political settlement," he said. "No, the big battle for Iraq hasn't been fought yet. The future of Iraq has not been determined." Nasr said...