[Dean's World] Dave Price: The Shia Awakening

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
The Shia Awakening
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1192344089.shtml


   I've been remiss in not mentioning [1]this earlier, as it's probably
   the most important recent trend in Iraq: the militias are suddenly
   becoming unpopular as the citizenry belatedly realize many are little
   better than roving gangs of thugs.

     âWe thought they were soldiers defending the Shiites,â said Sayeed
     Sabah, a Shiite who runs a charity in the western neighborhood of
     Huriya. âBut now we see they are youngster-killers, no more than
     that. People want to get rid of them.â

   [2]Allahpundit at Hotair expressed skepticism at the news that Basra
   actually became more peaceful with the departure of the British and
   the arrival of an Iraqi Army force; it does seem strange the relative
   neophytes could enjoy such greater success. I believe the answer is
   simply politics: while fighting foreign troops occupying their country
   might conceivably be viewed as patriotic and elicit sympathy (remember
   in 2004 when the Mahdi Army was fighting U.S. forces, Moqtada
   Al-Sadr's popularity went through the roof), firing on Iraqi Army
   troops is not a path to popularity -- and popularity matters greatly
   in a democracy.

References

   1. http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2007/10/018752.php
   2. http://hotair.com/archives/2007/10/11/shock-security-returning-to-basra-says-times-of-london/