Word: sunniness
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Iraq is ruled by the revolutionary Baath Party. So is Syria. Yet they are on opposite sides. The overwhelming majority of Syrian and Libyan Arabs are Sunni Muslims. Yet they are allied with the Shi'ite Persians of Iran, whom devout Sunnis consider schismatics. Revolutionary Iraq is fighting its war against Iran with Soviet rifles, tanks, planes and missiles. Its new ally, the ultraconservative monarchy of Saudi Arabia, defends itself against Iran's U.S.-made Phantom jets with the latest American equipment. As Iran chants its hatred of "the Great Satan America," its armed forces are surprising the world, thanks...
...rather than accept defeat, might choose to go out with a big bang by bombing the oil fields up and down the gulf. At the same time, Arab countries tremble over the possible repercussions from Khomeini's Shi'ite Muslim fanaticism; most of the gulf rulers are Sunni Muslims presiding over nations with Shi'ite minorities that may be susceptible to the Ayatullah's political influence. For most of the gulf states, it is a no-win situation; an outright victory by either Iraq or Iran would create a too powerful neighbor, while a protracted stalemate...
...breath for Iraq. Despite apprehensions about Saddam Hussein's long-term military and political ambitions, they sense a more imminent threat from Iran. Bahrain in particular is nervous about Tehran, not only because the mullahs have revived ancient Iranian claims to its territory but because Bahrain's Sunni Emir rules a population over half of whom are Shi'ites...
...Iraqi government is extremely vulnerable to such pressure. In the first place, its political and military leadership is largely Sunni Muslim, while over half of Iraq's 12.8 million people are Shi'ite Muslims who share a sense of community with their religious brethren in Iran. Moreover, the Baghdad regime is Baathist, and the Baath Party, both in Iraq and Syria, favors secularism, social reconstruction and economic development. To make matters worse, Iran has reportedly been inciting the Kurds in northern Iraq to rebel against Baghdad. For their part, the Iranians suspect that the current border troubles...
...neighboring province of Kurdistan, meanwhile, autonomist rebels killed at least four government military officers. Antigovernment riots also claimed ten lives in southeastern Baluchistan province, and religiously motivated gunfights between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims left at least 40 dead and 200 wounded in the Persian Gulf port of Bandar Lengeh. About the only good news that greeted the Ayatullah was the arrest in Tehran of the leader and 35 members of an anticlerical Islamic terrorist ring, known as Forqhan, which has claimed responsibility for the murder of at least two members of the Revolutionary Council...