Reaping the Whirlwind
Feb 23rd, 2006 at 9:34 am by Susie
All morning we’ve been hearing/watching both Shia and Sunni religious figures speak out against the explosions and emphasise that this is what is wanted by the enemies of Iraq- this is what they would like to achieve- divide and conquer. Extreme Shia are blaming extreme Sunnis and Iraq seems to be falling apart at the seams under foreign occupiers and local fanatics.
No one went to work today as the streets were mostly closed. The situation isn’t good at all. I don’t think I remember things being this tense- everyone is just watching and waiting quietly. There’s so much talk of civil war and yet, with the people I know- Sunnis and Shia alike- I can hardly believe it is a possibility. Educated, sophisticated Iraqis are horrified with the idea of turning against each other, and even not-so-educated Iraqis seem very aware that this is a small part of a bigger, more ominous plan…
Several mosques have been taken over by the Mahdi militia and the Badir people seem to be everywhere. Tomorrow no one is going to work or college or anywhere.
People are scared and watchful. We can only pray.
Not to be an alarmist–those of us a hemisphere away who rely on news as a source of information are only onlookers, nothing more–but I’m sure that the cosmopolitan residents of Sarajevo likewise felt that it can’t happen here when the clouds started gathering there fifteen years ago. And that was a society that guaranteed basic services, hadn’t suffered for decades under the rule of a sociopath, wasn’t (then) under seige from competing death squads and wasn’t being occupied by a foreign power.