Condoleezza Rice demonstrated the quality of the dominant analyses of the Middle East and Islam when she said in January 2007: “There’s still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that.”
Sunni/Shi’ite Jihad Update: “Iraq: Dozens of Shia Muslim pilgrims killed in wave of car bombs,” from Metro News, June 13 (thanks to all who sent this in):
Bombs struck six provinces and ten locations in Baghdad in a reminder of the political and religious tensions that saw Iraq teeter on the brink of civil war during the worst period of sectarian violence between 2005 and 2007.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, which injured scores of others, but the attacks have the hallmarks of extremist Sunni Muslim groups, including al-Qaeda.
The first bomb to go off was in the town of Tali, north of Baghdad, killing seven and wounding two.
Four other blasts in the capital killed 25 and wounded 70, while in Hillah, south of Baghdad, two bombs killed 21 and wounded 53.
In the city of Karbala, 90km south of Baghdad, two died and 22 others were wounded.
Another person was killed in the northern city of Kirkuk as several other bombs went off.
This week hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims are converging on Baghdad on foot to commemorate the death of revered Imam Moussa al-Kadhim….