Today’s brutal attacks on the Shia in Iraq highlight, in the most gruesome and inappropriate way, the divisions between the Sunni and Shia communities in Iraq and beyond. The occupying coalition forces are being lambasted, particularly on the ground in Iraq, for their failure to prevent today’s atrocities. It is unclear who masterminded these attacks — Iraqi Sunnis, foreign Sunni Islamist groups, and specifically al-Qaeda are all being eyed warily. The motivation of these attacks, however, is clearer — it was likely perpetrated in order to further destabilize Iraqi society, to encourage civil war between Arab Sunnis and Arab Shias, to provoke further fragmentation within the Islamic world and within Iraq, and to encourage Iraqi fury toward the U.S. forces for America’s inability to have prevented these attacks.  

Today’s terrorist attacks, and the increased fragmentation and anger they may inspire, add to the ever-present question of what is to become of the Kurds in the new Iraq.

The timing of the these attacks is both tragic and lamentable — these attacks occurred during Ashura, an important Shia festival of mourning that commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein in 680 A.D. During this ritual, hoards of faithful Shias flagellate themselves with chains and swords to atone for Hussein’s martyrdom.

Had these attacks occurred at any other time, they would have sparked division and fear. Now, with the American occupation of Iraq, the imminent handover of sovereignty from American hands to those of the Iraqis in June, and during this most important Shia festival, Iraq may become home to chaos and horrific sectarian violence.

America is in a worse situation than it has ever been before.  President Bush bullied his way into war and subsequent occupation in Iraq, and the Iraqis — not to mention other members of the international community — rightfully resent the American presence. The reconstruction of Iraq is a hotbed of crony capitalism. If President Bush wants, finally, to do something that is correct and just, he must do his utmost to increase the level of defense, order and security in Iraq and, most importantly, Iraqis need to have a role in this creation of order and security. America stripped Iraq of much of its humanitarian and political infrastructure, and America must now help to rebuild it. Reconstruction, after all, is not all about Halliburton and oil contracts.  

Mimi Hanaoka