Posted by: mcq on Thursday, September 15, 2005 Abu Musab Zarqawi has declared war on the shiites, in the name of the sunnis and thus begins an attempt in earnest to split the two sects irrevocably and ignite a civil war. Zarqawi kicked off his campaign with a series of coordinated car bombs in Baghdad which have killed 150 plus. The "war" was announced in an audio recording purported to be made by Zarqawi. The statement linked the attacks to a U.S. and Iraqi offensive underway against insurgents in the northwestern city of Tall Afar. A subsequent audio recording attributed to Zarqawi, which was posted on the Internet, accused the Shiite-led Iraqi government of having declared war on Sunnis in that city. As a result, al Qaeda in Iraq "has decided to launch a comprehensive war on the Shiites all over Iraq, wherever and whenever they are found. This is revenge. . . . Take care, because we are not going to have mercy on you," the recording said, according to a translation by the Washington-based SITE Institute, a group that monitors radical Web sites.Now this can be looked at in a couple of ways. A sign of strength for the terrorists or, more likely a sign of desparation. This wave of attacks comes on the heels of the Iraqis finally finishing up their constitution and turning it over to the UN for publishing. Increased attacks, preceding the Oct. referendum, have been expected. But openly declaring for the sunnis and against the shiites hasn't (although it's been the obvious tactic of the terrorists from the beginning ... that being to divide the country by sect and foment a civil war). It's that open declaration which is a bit surprising and smacks of a bit of desparation. Yes, they can still mount operations such as they did yesterday, but openly declaring war on shiites removes all doubt of where they stand and undermines any tentative allegiance they may have had or found in the shiite community. They are now official avowed enemies of the majority of Iraqis. Time will tell if that sort of a move was a smart thing to do, but given the announcement, it is going to be harder and harder for most Iraqis to maintain the illusion that the terrorists have their best interests at heart and only want the US out of Iraq. Iraqi leadership and the fledgling Iraqi military need to start stepping up. They can thwart this attempt by Zarqawi if they will. |
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