Posted on 01/01/2007 11:37:25 AM PST by indcons
In Iran, a country ruled by Shiite Muslims and in the newly Shiite controlled Iraq, the first day of the Eid Al-Adha was celebrated on December 31. Sunni Muslims celebrated the first day of the Eid Al-Adha on December 30, the same day Saddam Hussein was executed. According to Iraqi law, no executions can be carried out on religious or national holidays.
By hanging Saddam on Dec 30 - which all Sunnis, including Iraqi Sunnis, considered as the first day of Eid - Iraq was sending a clear message to all its neighbouring states and to Sunnis in particular that the new Iraq was a decidedly Shiite state. Growing Iranian influence in the region has always been a cause for concern among Gulf nations, who are predominantly Sunni. The real possibility of a nuclear Iran is one problem but the implications of Iraq's clear message with the timing of Saddam's execution is a new factor which could tip the balance of power in the region - with a nuclear Iran or without. The message also conveys to the world that Iraq is not a secular and inclusive democracy as they might wish to be perceived as, but instead they are Shiites and will make governmental decisions based on that fact - putting them in league with Iran.
Initial publicised tapes of the execution, which stopped at the noose being tightened around Saddam's neck, have now been trumped by leaked tapes of the moments before the hanging, wherein the Iraqi regime members present around the gallows shout religious Shiite chants and invoke the name of Mohammed Baqar Al-Sadr and Muqtada Al-Sadr while cursing Saddam. Mohammed Al-Sadr was a cleric executed by Saddam and whose radical son Muqtada now leads the notorious Al-Mahdi Army. By shouting the name of Sadr and his son and invoking Shiite chants in taunting Saddam moments before his execution, the Iraqi regime is clearly compromised. Al-Mahdi Army is one of several illegal Shiite militias that have been blamed for mass kidnappings and executions, along with attacking coalition forces since the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
According to the Iraqi government's official statements, it seeks to dismantle Al-Mahdi Army and all Shiite militias in the state. But with video images showing the supposedly official Iraqi government-controlled execution of Saddam having evident Al-Mahdi supporters amongst its ranks, one can only say that the jig is up. It is of note to mention that the Iraqi government's official statements say that Saddam was handed over by the US to Iraqi Armed Forces and the Ministry of Interior personnel. If the Iraqi government had any intentions of keeping its leanings under wraps, it can no longer hide its true nature now.
The Iraqi government accuses Saddamists and Baath loyalists along with the Wahhabists as perpetrating the majority of violence in Iraq with their car bombings but it fails to hold the Shiite death squads accountable for their violent actions which are thought to encompass thousands of kidnappings, killings and the driving of Sunnis from their homes in divided neighbourhoods. If their government is to be non-sectarian and inclusive of all Iraqis, it must begin with accepting the violent terror inflicted by both sides of the sectarian divide and wiping Iraq clean of both violent as well as terrorist elements. But the message in the video and the date of the execution both indicate that the militia death squads are more likely to be the military arm of the new Iraqi government itself, which shows the implicit cooperation between the two.
Saudi Arabia, and Egypt - two of the world's most influential Sunni states - issued official statements regretting the fact that Saddam was executed on the first day of Eid Al-Adha and suggested the execution showed a lack of respect for the sanctity of the holy day, while Shiite Iran praised the execution. The Muslim world viewed the timing of the execution along sectarian lines, which is exactly the way they should see it - lines were drawn long before December 30 but the announcement was made public for all the world to see on that date. The path of reconciliation for the people of Iraq is now, for all intents and purposes, defunct.
The timing of the execution coupled with the leaked video marred with the Shiite chanting and insults put the new Iraq on par with the old despotic regime it replaced - divided between Shiites and Sunnis and fraught with thugs who resort to street justice instead of maintaining an honourable silence when putting even the worst of monsters, like Saddam, to death.
However, there is a definite unease among Sunnis in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other Sunni sheikdoms over the increasing Shia dominance in Iraq (which, of course, was to be expected after Saddam was removed from power). It'll be very interesting to see what the Sunni sheikdoms do in response to Iran's growing strength in the region (or at least, in the Shia-dominated regions).
Ping!
Ping!
Ping
I was troubled by hearing that the executioners chanted "Muqtada" before they executed Saddam Hussein. I hope there is not something in the Iraqi psyche that DESIRES the leadership of a murdering egomaniac.
I think this just may be true...and it is a BIG problem.
-ccm
Why would you think otherwise?
It is in the psyche of islam itself, which has always been ruled by tyrants. Iraq will be "free and democratic" when pigs fly, or when they stop worshipping mohammed and the moon rock, which ever comes first.
On the video tape, some of the hangmen were heard to say "Long live al Sadr."
I suspect that such an in your face comment just as Saddam was being hung will prompt some of the Sunnis to go after al Sadr. And that would be a very good thing.
MUSLIMS ENRAGED!!!
Pfft.
My choice would be to extend a hand to the Sunnis and guarantee their share of power in the government and the oil resources of Iraqi. I would arrest Mookie and dare his army try to rescue him, or better yet, aid the Sunnis in his assassination.
I seem to recall the President we would pit the enemy against one another.
This fits.
I was wondering if you could verify this for us.
The hand I have in mind is helping the Sunnis get access to Mookie. I am not talking about direct talks with the gunmen. But if the Sunni pols know that they can depend on us to balance the Shia gunmen. We win if no one wins. That would of course mean we had to take on the Iranians.
"We win if no one wins". - No, we do not win [long term] as long as any of them is left around. For us to win we need to carry out a successful transcivilizing there - i.e. the extirpation of tribal and sectarian infrastructures and identities, to begin with.
Bloodthirsty savages, it is hard to know which is worse. Islam should be outlawed.
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