Arab press wary of Shiite victory in Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/February/middleeast_February415.xml§ion=middleeast

CAIRO - Newspapers across the Middle East on Monday welcomed Iraq’s election results but warned of the dangers of the Shiite dominance both internally and as a regional force linked with Washington’s sworn foe, Iran.

Taking the lead in questioning how US policy had been served by the elections, Egypt’s government newspapers said the Shiite victory was totally against US interests.

“Has the United States gone to all this trouble (invading Iraq) in order to see a government emerge supported and blessed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani,” asked Samir Ragab, editor in chief of the daily Al-Gomhuriya.

“These Shiites will form, with their Iranian brothers, a force still more important in the Gulf region, which is in total contradiction with the interests of the United States.”

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[Stuckinthebush]

1. Can you taste the irony?

Oops.

[DistantWind88]

2. So the Arab press

thinks the Shia in Iraq are more likely to form closer ties with the Persian Shia in Iran, than their own Arab brothers in the most of the rest of the Muslim Middle East. Interesting...especially considering hundred of thousands of Arab Iraqi Shia fought against the Iranians in the Iran-Iraq war. This is going to be VERY interesting from an ethnic/religious viewpoint.

[Igel]

10. As we know, the various sects of Islam have always

lived in the deepest fraternal love and harmony. /sarcasm

[cthrumatrix]

3. what the heck did people expect ....they are the majority...

$300Billion ...1500 US lives...thousands injured for an Islamic state?


I think we don't know the whole story.

[leftchick]

8. Ceck this out: Why the US will not leave Iraq

An interesting take by Pepe Escobar

http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GB01Ak02.html

<snip>
Asia Times Online sources in Baghdad suggest that the newly elected National Assembly and new government will be very similar to Allawi's: a mix of religious and secular parties, all of them led by former exiles. A "Sunni parliamentary quota" is almost inevitable, for two reasons: Sunni voter turnout was low; and Sunnis must be represented in the drafting of the new constitution. It's important to remember that the assembly itself will not write the new constitution; instead, it will supervise the drafting committee. So it's imperative that Sunnis are part of the committee, otherwise the constitution may be shot down in the four Iraqi provinces with a Sunni-majority when it is submitted for a referendum next September.

The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the Sistani-blessed Shi'ite list that will capture most of the popular vote, has officially dropped its demand to negotiate the American departure. This essentially means, from many a Sunni point of view, that the Shi'ites will rely on the Americans to protect them from the Sunni resistance, both secular and Islamist - as well as from the hundreds of thousands of disgruntled, unemployed former Ba'athists who may or may not (yet) be part of the resistance.

Ibrahim Jaafari, the official spokesman of the Hezb al-Dawa al-Islamiya party, founded in 1957 (the oldest Iraqi Shi'ite party), the third most popular figure in Iraq after Sistani and Muqtada al-Sadr, the No 2 at the UIA list and a serious contender for becoming the new prime minister, has already spelled it out: "If the US pulls out too fast there would be chaos." Jaafari, crucially, also enjoys a lot of respect by moderate Sunnis.

Current Finance Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, a former Maoist and Ba'athist turned free marketer, also a member of the UIA and strong contender for becoming premier, has repeatedly talked about "realistic thinking" in terms of securing Iraq. Mahdi is very close to some members of the White House's National Security Council.

[Gman]

4. So what? The price of defense industry stocks has skyrocketed

and that's what its all about, isn't it?

[jody]

5. Shia Muslims are 30%-35%, Sunni Muslims are 65%-70% of all Muslims. n/t

[Mountainman]

6. This just gives the neocons a reason for staying in Iraq and attacking

Iran. It all fits into the fighting terrorists meme. Now the Iraqi people have voted for terrorists who will ally with their terrorist neighbors in a holy war against us so we must use our Xian armies to crush them now before it gets too out of hand.

[mmonk]

7. But

weren't the people guiding the planes on 9/11 Sunni? Anyway, you have to notice the irony.

[AlinPA]

9. And we are training their soldiers! What foreign policy.