The Sunni and Shia fougth side by side against Iran.........
Looks like the Evil British divide and conquer techniques are being used.
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2007-05-16 07:18:41 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Are you kidding, study history, the very reason they split into two divisions is that they couldn't even agree on their own leadership.
2007-05-16 07:22:58 · answer #1 · answered by nikola333 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Um, Iran has sunni and shia as well... they were fighting the gov't take over. Iran wants Iraq for theirs, Iraq didn't want to give it up. But Sunni and Shia's have been fighting one another over who is more correct (Sunni's believe their ideas and "prophets" are the one's chosen by Muhammad, while the Shia's believe it's theirs) for hundreds of yrs. Saddam himself, along with his Bath Party, were killing off others in Iraq for how long? Come on... it's one of the reasons they give for us even being there... that and the attack on the Kurds.
BTW, they also fought side by side against Russia.... and as soon as that war was over, they went back to fighting one another.
2007-05-16 07:30:47 · answer #2 · answered by Kithy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think they deliberately encouraged it as you are suggesting.
Actually they desperately wanted Iraq to settle down into stability.
I think the problem is an unintended, unanticipated effect of introducing democracy. We in the pluralist West believe in democracy as a sound way to rule in country.
But unfortunately there isnt the same mentality of working for the good of the whole country in Iraq. Sunnis, who held power largely under Saddam, as he was from a Sunni tribe, felt left out, since they would lose power through democracy. Shiites are unfortunately mainly concerned with grabbing power for themselves, not the common good. So its unforeseen sectional rivalry in my opinion. Who'd have thought they'd be such ruthless killers of each other though - there were messed up mindsets in Iraq before the ill-advised military operation Bush set in motion.
2007-05-16 07:27:00 · answer #3 · answered by Cader and Glyder scrambler 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Sunni and Shia had a strongarm leader that they both feared. Democracy will never work in such a place. Asking for peace is futile. They need another Saddam,short of a brutal dictator,there will be no order
2007-05-16 07:33:07 · answer #4 · answered by nobodinoze 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They've been fighting since Islam was founded. The only reason they existed in Iraq without war under Sadaam is that he had a tendency to wipe out entire Shiite villages (he was Sunni, so didn't do much mass murder on them), with chemical bombs if they caused any ruckus. So I suppose the answer is either let them wipe each other out, or give them a new evil dictator that will wipe out one side or the other.
2007-05-16 07:31:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sunnis are always fighting against Shias and others. There is nothing new about it.
2007-05-16 07:37:29 · answer #6 · answered by jikg 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You need to do research, the sunni and the shites have hated each other for centuries, all over what determines a rightful calipher
2007-05-16 07:22:38 · answer #7 · answered by Kam 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Saddam Hussein would not allow any problems between them. They have actually fought between themselves since the death of Mohamed. Read a little history of the Middle East pal...
2007-05-16 07:23:16 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
There always was a problem. The War in Iraq has just escalated tensions that were always there.
2007-05-16 07:21:13 · answer #9 · answered by Maverick 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
They were too busy wiping out the other, less powerful groups.
2007-05-16 07:22:59 · answer #10 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋