Iraqis have always had tribal rivalries. So feel free to use a long list tribe names (Shia and Sunni) instead of their religion, and my statement mostly stands.
I don't think I said anything that countered that fact. All I said is that with the downfall of Saddam, the religious fanatics, who had previously been suppressed by the Ba'th party, saw their opportunity to seize control in Iraq via religious rhetoric and intimidation.
What most people fail to realize is that Saddam primarily dealt with 5 "supreme" tribal chieftains (I'm not sure of their exact names). These chieftains would maintain order amongst the other tribes via patronage and other methods (including coercive force provided by the Ba'thists.
I say mostly because US has had a very big role in heightening the sectarian rivalries.
Funny, some folks would claim that sectarian violence was heightened because the US-Coalition apparently refused to even give lip service to these 5 chieftains, preferring to develop new relationships and power centers that were less beholding to the old tribal power structure.
But personally, my opinion is that much of the sectarian violence, AT THIS STAGE, is being advanced by OTHER foreign invaders, namely the Jihadists coming from Saudi Arabia and Syria.
These are the same kind of people who attacked us on 9/11, and are now INVADING AND ATTACKING Iraqis. Yet, amazingly, many people think we should leave Iraq and leave average Iraqis to the agenda of these fanatics.
So here we are in the position of considering the ABANDONMENT of an entire country to those who wish to create another Taliban-style state in Iraq.
Hawk |
