From The Post:
U.S. Sidelines Exiles Who Were To Govern Iraq (June 12, 2003)
Who are
they?
Shiites comprise a branch of Islam, just as Protestants comprise a
branch of Christianity. Worldwide, Shiites account for about 10 percent
of Muslims. Most of the other 90 percent of Muslims are known as Sunnis.
Although Shiites are found throughout the Muslim world, they are most
numerous in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain and Azerbaijan. Most of Iraq's
Shiites live in the poorer neighbhorhoods of Baghdad and in the southern
part of the country.
What do
Shiites believe?
Both Shiite and Sunni Muslims believe there is only one God, Allah, and
that the prophet Mohammad (570-632 AD) is his messenger. The division
between the two communities dates to a 7th-century dispute over the
successors to Muhammad. Shiites believe his son-in-law, Ali, should have
followed him as caliph, Islam's supreme temporal leader. That conflict
was followed by the central event of Shiite spirituality -- the death of
Ali's son, Hussein, and his outnumbered party in a battle at the city of
Karbala in the year 680. The memory of Hussein's martyrdom and the
powerful emotions it evokes are comparable to the sentiments inspired by
the crucifixion of Jesus. Najaf, also located in southern Iraq, is a
another holy city for Shiites.
From The Post:
Iraq's Shiites Are Pilgrims Once Again (April 17, 2003)
What are
the politics of the Iraqi Shiites?
There are diverse factions of Shiites, loyal to different clerics both
inside and outside Iraq. While the Shiites were violently suppressed by
Saddam Hussein's government, many Shiite groups are also hostile to the
United States because of its support for Israel. Leading Shiite
factions, supported by Iran, want U.S. forces to leave Iraq as soon as
possible. Some, but not all, of these factions are seeking to establish
an Iranian-style government dominated by Shiite clerics, a goal strongly
opposed by the country's Sunni Arab and Kurdish minorities. Others
Shiite groups believe that the clery should not be involved in politics
and favor a more secular form of government.
From The Post: A Guide to the
Leading Shiite Factions of Iraq (April 16, 2003)
What do
the Shiites think of the United States?
Distrust is a common attitude. The United States supported Saddam
Hussein's war against Shiite Iran in the 1980s. After the Persian Gulf
War in 1991, President George H.W. Bush and other U.S. leaders
encouraged the Shiites to rise up against Hussein. When they did and the
Iraqi leader crushed their rebellion, killing thousands of Shiites and
their leaders, the United States did not intervene. This history and
deep ideological differences have thwarted U.S. diplomatic efforts to
enlist Shiite support for U.S. policies in Iraq.
From The Post:
Clerics Vie With U.S. for Power (June 7, 2003)
What is
the role of Iran?
Iraq's neighbor to the east has the world's only Shiite government. The
Iranian government is supporting diverse factions of the Iraqi Shiites
as a bulwark against American influence in the post-Saddam Hussein
government. Some U.S. State Department officials are eager for a thaw in
relations with Iran. But the Pentagon and other administration officials
believe the Iranian government is facing severe internal pressures from
popular discontent, and see little reason to engage with Iranian
leaders.
From The Post:
U.S. Seeks Surrender of Iranian Group (May 9, 2003)
How is
the United States treating the Shiites?
Very carefully. To succeed, the U.S. administration of Iraq is seeking
to represent Shiites without alienating Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Balancing
these interests is one of the central challenges facing the U.S. effort
to establish order in Iraq. The working collaboration between U.S. and
Shiite authorities in the city of Karbala is a rare success story in
U.S.-Shiite relations.
