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Robert Spencer at Aleteia: The Fall of Iraq

Jun 12, 2014 6:16 pm By Robert Spencer

ISIScaliphateOver at Aleteia today I give background on the jihad between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims that is now escalating in Iraq.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has just seized the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Tikrit, and is close to taking control of the nation’s largest oil refinery — indicating that the jihad between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims is raging hotter now than it has in centuries, and isn’t going to die down anytime soon.

ISIS, a Sunni group, according to the Washington Post now “effectively governs a nation-size tract of territory that stretches from the eastern edge of the Syrian city of Aleppo to Fallujah in western Iraq — and now also includes the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.”

What’s more, it has the resources to outlast its foes in a long conflict. ABC News reports that the jihadists “looted $429 million from Mosul banks, making them richer than some small countries.”

However, Iraq’s Shi’ite Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has vowed to retake the city, blaming its fall on a “conspiracy” and adding: “Today, the important thing is that we are working to solve the situation. We are making preparations and we are regrouping the armed forces that are in charge of clearing Ninevah from those terrorists.”

Maliki may indeed be able to clear the region of the Sunni jihadists, for behind him stands the power of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which also backs the Alawite Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria. But it is unlikely that they will be able to achieve total victory, for Sunni jihadists from all over the world have flocked to Syria in order to fight against Assad, and Maliki has accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of supporting the Sunni jihadists in Iraq.

American analysts had naively hoped that both Sunnis and Shi’ite would have been able to put all this behind them. Then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice complained 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.”

Seven years later, they still haven’t. In fact, the idea that the Sunni-Shi’ite divide, which is 1,400 years old and goes all the way back to the murky origins of Islam, is something that can without undue difficulty be “overcome” is a sterling manifestation of the general superficiality of Washington’s analysis of the Middle East, during both the Bush and the Obama administrations.

Unbeknownst to the analysts and policymakers who have influenced Washington policy for decades now, the Sunni-Shi’ite divide cannot be bridged by negotiations, or by bribes (“aid”), or by anything but the full surrender of one group to the other — which is not going to happen. This is because the divide has enough roots in each side’s differing understandings of Islam for hardliners in both camps to label the other “unbelievers,” and thus people who can lawfully be killed.

Islamic tradition holds that after Muhammad died (which is supposed to have happened in 632 AD), the Muslim community chose his companion Abu Bakr to succeed him as caliph, or successor of Muhammad as the military, political and spiritual leader of the Muslims. But one group among them thought that the leadership belonged by right to Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad’s son-in-law and one of his first followers, and after him to a member of the prophet’s household.

Ali finally did become caliph after Abu Bakr had been succeeded by two other companions of Muhammad, Umar and Uthman, but was assassinated only a few years later. Then in the year 680, his son Hussein was killed in battle with the caliph Yazid I at Karbala in Iraq, and the split between those who believed that the caliph should be the best man in the community (the Sunnis) and those who believed the Muslims should be led by a relative of Muhammad (the Shi’ites) became formal, bitter and everlasting.

Read the rest here.

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Filed Under: caliphate, Iraq, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. AnneM says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 6:36 pm

    Not surprised that the color that is used on this picture is “black”. It is the symbol of the color of the real god the islamofacists serve: the devil.

  2. AnneM says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 6:38 pm

    Not surprised that the main color used in the map is “black”. It is the color of the god the islamofacists serve: the devil.

  3. Peter Buckley says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 6:40 pm

    A lot is said about the West’s dependence on the Middle East for oil. Have people seen this report?

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/business/energy-environment/report-sees-us-as-top-oil-producer-in-5-years.html?_r=0

    AS far as the Sunni/ shi-ite confrontation goes, this has nothing to do with the West. It has nothing to do with the Iraq war. This would have happened anyway.
    All the West should do is “ringfence” the area, get out as many non-muslims as possible, protect Israel, and watch from the sidelines. This is THEIR WAR. It is quite likely the two sides will beat each other to a standstill. I refer you once again by this article on the demise of Islam:

    “We can conclude that there is a certain ending to Islam and that those who wish for it do not necessarily need to do anything. All that is needed is to let it run its own course. It is bound to self-destruct, if we are to learn from the lessons of Islamic history. The un-Islamic world just needs to protect itself with strict security measures, never letting the various groups of Islam unite to kill the infidels. Once the infidels learn the secret life of Islam, it is simply a matter to watch how Islam implodes. Once the Islamic oil runs dry, once the world secures a reliable source of energy to replace oil, once the infidels stand together, and once the infidels become iron-resolute to contain Islam in their lands, Islam will die a natural death.”

    http://www.islam-watch.org/AbulKasem/Demise-of-Islam.htm

    • Thomas says

      Jun 12, 2014 at 7:54 pm

      Unfortunately I don’t think the West, partiuclaly Europe, can just stand on the sideline and ignore them. France has 6 million Muslims and they pay them free subsidies and healthcare and allow them to apply their sharia in their getthos. Similary, Belgium, Holland and other European countries. In Ameirca they are preaching jihad in their Mosques. In Europe they are in danger of becoming a majority in severa countries due to their hight birthrate and the fact that Europeans don’t want children. The French cannot expel 60 million of them, nost of whom were born there. One possibility is that Europeans will wake up to the danger and there could be some kind of civil ware in several countries.

      • Peter Buckley says

        Jun 13, 2014 at 4:05 am

        “In Europe they are in danger of becoming a majority in severa countries due to their hight birthrate ”

        This is a complete myth. How do you explain this, then?

        http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/up-a-third-uk-population-3500561

    • Vapourking says

      Jun 13, 2014 at 3:18 am

      Yep PB, couldn’t agree more.
      Our reliance on Arab oil is over, new technology, a shift towards gas, large oil reserves being discovered outside the Middle East all the spells the end of Islam.
      The solution is simple ban Islam in the west, seize and close mosques remove Muslim’s that wish to continue practising.
      Cease trade with Islamic Countries and foreign aid.
      Then sit back and watch Islam implode. They’ll run out of bullets sooner or later, Islam has never produced anything everything they have is supplied by the west.
      Remove supply and Islam implodes, we owe Islam nothing time for it to fall on its sword!!!!

    • Guy Macher says

      Jun 13, 2014 at 8:48 am

      Well said. Too bad the ursurper’s goal is to destroy the USA; Obama will use American blood and treasure to further the caliphate.

  4. Rob says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 7:26 pm

    Let them fight!
    If the West can finally say ‘enough’ and not intervene in Syria, then it’s no stretch to say ‘enough’ in Iraq.
    The only downside is that the jihadis – local and foreign, will turn their attention to Israel, or domestic jihad if they are ‘entitled’ to reside in a Western country..
    What the West CAN and SHOULD do is cancel the passports of anyone who has left their countries to fight on either side.
    Finding refuge in the West, does not entitle anyone to use the safe haven as a rear base to continue the battle.
    Refuge implies reciprocity. However, that’s a nicety entirely lost on Muslims. Just look at Sweden!

  5. BW022 says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 8:24 pm

    The US is its own worst enemy.

    The US will spend nearly four to six trillion dollars on Iraq and Afghanistan — direct military costs, aid programs, veteran’s benefits, hardware replacement, etc. All for nothing.

    Build the f-ing Keystone pipeline and stop buying oil from OPEC countries. Heck… give Canada $100B not to build the Northern Gateway pipeline or invest in the oil sands.

    It wouldn’t cost thousands of American lives and tens of thousands of shattered soldiers and families, the US wouldn’t be another $4-$6T in debt, American children wouldn’t be watching Canadian oil being shipped to China, trillions of dollars wouldn’t be flowing into the most brutal dictatorships in the world, and that money would be going to close allies of the United States who aren’t using it to education children in the joys of flying airplanes into US buildings.

  6. citycat says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 9:06 pm

    Yeah, Sweden, how about saying enough to breeding creepers, the silent cancer.
    But they’re forced victims of Islam, which is the koran, muhammed, the idea of god, Allah, religion, our gang.
    Tribal war, nothing more.
    Universality needs individuality to work. Religion destroys that, Islam the most, and Islam is a magnifying mirror of the underlying savage potential in mankind. The whole of mankind has to sort this problem or else forget culture and any higher endeavour to evolve.

  7. jewdog says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 9:06 pm

    The historical evidence is that Mohammad never existed, or, as Robert has pointed out, is a semi-mythical figure like Robin Hood. If so, then we are witnessing whole countries torn apart and millions of people displaced or killed on behalf of fictional characters.
    The most humane outcome is for everyone to agree that they aren’t going to go to war for the Tooth Fairy. Since that’s unlikely, then we have to accept the fact that some of the most dangerous people in the world must be neutralized. The best way to do that is to make sure they don’t have WMD, but if they do fight each other, to arm the losers so that they keep fighting each other and not us.

  8. Transmaster says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    And when will we see the first atomic mushroom cloud blasting to the heavens in this region harking in the nuclear annihilation of Islam. I wonder if the Sultan of Stupid is going to try to blame Bush for this too?

    The one bright spot in all of the is Turkeys greatest fear is happening traditional capital Kirkuk for which The Kurdish Peshmerga have fought over for years is in Kurdish control, and with them the oil field of Iraq. The Kurds are on their way to re-establishing Kurdistan as a free and independent country.

    • umbra says

      Jun 13, 2014 at 2:23 am

      One solution to this problem is to armed the kurds in order for them to push for their own statehood. This will weaken, iraq, syria, turkey (severely) and iran. No western troop involvement and minimum aid money (except for some surplus arms).

  9. mary vanderkooi says

    Jun 12, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    As long as the Sunni’s and Shi’ites are killing each other, it saves us the trouble. When the Mahdi comes and unites them, then we’re in BIG trouble. I’m all for passport cancellation, as well as forced deportation, of anyone who in any way supports jihad.
    MAV

    • umbra says

      Jun 13, 2014 at 4:50 am

      If and when they are united and seek a grand conflict (in the form of a world war), they will have to content with the non-islamic world that has the best fighting units, arms, more manpower and controls almost all nukes.

  10. Salah says

    Jun 13, 2014 at 12:52 am

    “There’s still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that.”

    The best way to overcome this conflict is for the Sunnis and the Shi’ites to sit down and try to resolve one of the main differences between them:
    Muhammad’s private parts, are they with him in heaven (Sunnis) or without him in hell (Shi’ites)?

    http://crossmuslims.blogspot.com/2011/07/private-parts-of-muhammad.html

  11. Gamaliel says

    Jun 13, 2014 at 2:16 am

    The only hope the West has of surviving the rise of Islam is if the Sunnis and the Shiites kill each other off. No Condoleeza, the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites doesn’t have to stop, it has to continue.

  12. tpellow says

    Jun 13, 2014 at 8:51 am

    “The ancient Muslim hatreds tearing apart the Middle East: How 1,400-year-old feud between Shia and Sunni sects flared into life with the fall of dictators like Gaddafi and Saddam… and now threatens to swallow all of Iraq.
    “Sunni and Shia factions have been warring since 632AD disagreement over successor to prophet Muhammad.
    “ISIS militants – who are Sunni – have been stampeding through majority-Shia Iraq
    But the militants have stuck to Sunni heartlands, where residents are glad to be rid of Shia government forces.
    “Religious tensions are flaring again now that dictators such as Colonel Gadaffi and Saddam Hussein have fallen.
    “Rest of the world – and especially other Middle Eastern states – are watching nervously as the conflict intensifie.”
    By MICHAEL BURLEIGH

    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2656734/Ancient-hatreds-tearing-apart-Middle-East-How-1-400-year-old-feud-Shia-Sunni-Muslims-flared-life-fall-dictators-like-Gaddafi-Saddam-threatens-swallow-Iraq.html#ixzz34WTmWdOl

  13. James says

    Jun 13, 2014 at 11:15 pm

    I understand the context of the article but how does the photo of Nothern Africa and the Middle East, in black, correlate? Who created this photo? Shouldn’t the entire world be in black?

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