Saddam's Iraq was Secular So Why is Iraq now turning into a Shiite Taliban State?

Question

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0918/p11s01-wome.html

Personal freedoms are being squashed … the fabric of Iraqi society has been ruined."

Public parties are banned. Selling musical CDs is forbidden in shops. Those who sell or consume alcohol face recrimination, even death. Artists and performers are severely restricted and even labeled as heretics. A famous city landmark, a replica of the Lion of Babylon statue that stood here for decades was blown up by militants in July. It was considered idolatrous, according to the strict interpretation of Islam.

Signs ordering women to cover up appear throughout the city. One woman, an Iraqi female activist from Basra, says the notices even threaten death. One banner, she says, said unveiled women could be murdered and no one could remove their bodies from the street.

Answer 1

You are right. By US/UK removing Saddam - granted a brutal dictator - they have removed what did hold Iraq - by force - together. They have also removed a power that checked Iran and Saudi Arabia and have turned Iraq from a repressive, but stable state to a repressive and chaotic state.

All for oil and for Israel.

Answer 2

This is a misinterpretation of the facts

1. Iraq was a secular but run by a Sunni who hated Shia and opressed them. The Shia who are a majority are now asserting themselves.

2. Neither the Shia nor the Sunni has a monopoly on fanaticss but many of the ones in Iraq now are fromelsewhere and are trying to take advantage of the power vaccum

3. There are some 144 militias in Basra alone and they are pretty much all at odds with each other so what you have is not a Taliban state but PURE CHAOS

4. Because Iraq is so chaotic it is different wherever you go, some places there is wine drinking,casual sex and dancing , and in some place you get killed for not coming to prayer.

5. The only secular democracy run by muslims is Turkey and they are at odds with Northern Iraq because of the Sunni Kurds who keep making incursions into Turkey in some kind of attempt to create an independent Kurdistan.

IT'S THE MIDDLE EAST WHAT'S NEW??????????

Answer 3

First of all, Saddam's Iraq was never secular.

The problem is, the entire middle east is ruled by numerous tribes and religious fanatics. Iran for example has a religious 'morality' squad that acts over and above the law and kidnaps, rapes,tortures and kills women (and men) for acting outside of that religions own brand of religious morality. The government cannot or will not stop them.

And now all these religious nut jobs are pouring into Iraq from Saudi and Iran and numerous other states, and the religious groups that Saddam discriminated against all want their say too, and the Iraqi government is powerless to stop any of it because it has not got on its feet yet, and noone (from the Iraqi government to liberal morons over here) will allow British and American forces to stop them.

Answer 4

Saddam's Iraq was never Secular !
Under Saddam, who was himself a Sunni and ruled through the Sunni minority, Iraq counted as a Sunni country even though the clear majority of the population was Shia.
Saddam's Iraq received huge amounts of cash and assistance from Sunni countries in the region, who were anxious for reasons of their own that Shi'ism should not be victorious.. etc etc

Answer 5

Shite/Taliban state?

-Its past your bed time. Besides! You aren't American or Iraqi. Iraq is none of your business. Just stay out of it.

The fabric of Iraqi society is being ruined? lol...Where have you been..

try this...Use Yahoo or Google or Ask.com or any of the American websites and read up on Saddam. There wasnt much society there in the first place.

Answer 6

Different sects of Islam have different laws -- Saddam was Baathist -- Shiites have a much stricter interpretation of Islamic law -- and many Sunni sub-groups are even stricter than that.

Whenever you change a country's leadership -- some things are going to get better and some are going to get worse -- that's the nature of politics, even without religion being involved.

Answer 7

Yeah. it makes me laugh how the bush administrations (both of them) tried to make him out as a hitleresque religious fanatic. He was neither. He was secular and stalinist (still bad of course). But like Tito of Yugoslavia, he managed to keep ethnic tensions to a controllable level.

Saddam was not a nice man by any means, but things seem worse now, like you said. And unbeknownst to many people, now ethnic Kurds can continue their slaughter of innocent christian assyrians (who along with Armenians were killed in WWI by Turkey with the help of their Kurdish allies).

Out of the frying pan and into the fire, as they say. It's obvious the white house has an ulterior motive for being in Iraq (and not to fight terrorism, as they claim).

Answer 8

Yet another unexpected result of going into a place our president refused to learn about.
He worried about democracy, but to Western eyes he should have worried about the lack of advanced civilization.

Answer 9

Why Should We Know Or Care? This Is Not Iraq And CNN Is Busy With A Ladies Car That Was Hit By A Train Last Night.

Try Yahoo.iraq

Answer 10

It is the will of the people otherwise known as democracy!

Certain towns, in our Southern States, are only a few steps behind as they make the showing of undergarments an offense.