As the media continues to report on roadside bombings and suicide attacks in Iraq, perhaps it’s time that we step back and look more closely at the motivation behind these attacks.  Some will no doubt be quick to say that the continued attacks are due to our presence in Iraq and that if we left the country the killing would stop.  That is a naïve opinion and I disagree. 

Are there attacks that are aimed specifically at American service members?  Absolutely.  It cannot be denied that our troops are in danger everyday in Iraq and that there are terrorists who want us out.  However, an American presence in Iraq is not the only impetus for the continued violence.  To fully understand the dissention in that country, must look at its most basic division, the conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. 

Earlier this week, suicide bombers killed over 120 Shiite pilgrims lined up at a checkpoint.  The pilgrims were on their way to Karbala to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein, grandson on the Prophet Mohammed and a central figure on the Shiite interpretation of Islam.  The attacks were blamed on Sunni insurgents. 

For decades Shiite Muslims were oppressed under the rule of Saddam Hussein and his Sunni government.  Now the new Iraqi government is dominated by a Shiite majority and many Sunnis fear the possible repercussions of being an out of power minority.  This underlying conflict between two divergent branches of Islam only adds fuel to the fire of conflict in Iraq. While many will say that these religious differences are only superficial and could not be the cause of such an increase in violence, I believe that the Sunni-Shiite division is fast becoming a battle cry for insurgents. 

It would be much more difficult for terrorist groups to recruit suicide bombers and insurgency fighters if their only selling point was to overthrown the government and let someone else take over.  There has to be a greater motivation to convince a person to kill himself and potentially hundreds of other people.  That is where the power of religion has come to play a part in the Iraq War.   When a young man can be convinced that his death will serve a purpose and that he will receive a reward for his actions no matter how deplorable they may be, a suicide bomber can be born.  This would be much more difficult if this same young man was told his death was really only serving to destabilize a country and prevent its growth as an American ally.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 12th, 2007 at 1:22 am and is filed under General Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.