Deadly spiral of violence in Iraq
November 23rd, 2006 by ashish
In a development bound to increase the intensity of the sectrian war in Iraq, today was unfortunately another day of massacre in Iraq. This violence was concentrated in the Shia stronghold of Sadr city. The attacks consisted of bomb blasts, missile attacks and attacks from Sunni armed men.
The immediate reaction is not known, but nothing good will come out of this. In the past, any such attacks have been followed by attacks by Shia militiamen on the Sunni population of Shia majority areas. These are widely believed to be abetted by men from the Interior Ministry and typically Sunni men are kidnapped, tortured and killed, with bodies being left in garbage dumps and along the roadside.
Is Iraq heading towards a civil war ? There are many who would argue that Iraq is already in a state of civil war - there is tremendous ill-will between the Sunnis and the Shias, legislators in the Iraqi parliament are already talking about some sort of separation, and the option is no longer being dismissed so easily.
Any separation would be problematic, since Iraq’s urban population is not so easily separable along community lines; the emergence of an oil rich Shia region close to Iran will be troublesome for a lot of the Arab states; Turkey and Iran will certainly not appreciate the emergence of a Kurdish zone; and the oil poor Sunni region may explode into a malestorm of hate and a breeding ground for terrorism. Close consultation with the Shia and Sunni parties along with consultation between Iran, Syria and other neighbours may help in avoid such a situation.
