http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-shia_10edi.ART.State.Edition1.2c57c04.html
The Shia moment on the world stage is being born in fire, fanaticism and apocalyptic terror. Because the rise of the Shia cannot at this point be suppressed, the United States had better figure out how to manage it.
The Shia have been a despised and persecuted minority within Islam since virtually the beginning (the separation between Shia and Sunni originated in a dispute over the rightful successor of the Prophet). Ethnically Persian Iran has always been Shia, but in the neighboring Arab world, the Sunnis have always run the show.
Now, for the first time, a Shia-run Arab state exists, thanks to the U.S. military. Confounding Washington's expectations, Iraq's Shia majority has put its religious identity ahead of its national and ethnic identification and embraced Iran.
2006-08-10
02:32:28
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