NEWS: Holy Shit! Muslims Are Killing Each Other!

POLITICS: Holy Shit! Muslims Are Killing Each Other!

This crazy topsy-turvy world just turned more topsy-turvy, or as some would say, “Super-duper topsy-turvy.” Sunni insurgents in Iraq and al-Qaeda are no longer getting along, and in some cases it has led to combat between the two groups. The US is hoping to exploit the feud.

The insurgents are upset with al-Qaeda tactics and command, according to US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who wrapped up his time in Iraq today.

What a crazy optimist.

One group of insurgents, The General Command of the Iraqi Armed Forces stopped hanging out with al-Qaeda back in September, when al-Qaeda assassinated two of the insurgents “best members.” The insurgents took revenge and now the groups are fighting each other.

In other parts of Iraq, relationships have also become strained. In Diyala, insurgents and al-Qaeda have had disagreements over tactics, forcing the insurgents to “disavow” the terrorists. They don’t even look at each other at parties anymore. I, for one, never saw it coming. They seemed like they really worked together.

Shiites are now talking to insurgents about fighting al-Qaeda and possibly a truce. If the Sunnis agree to a truce, Shiites have said they will engage in major reconstruction in Sunni areas devastated by fighting. But, of course, some Sunnis would prefer to negotiate with the Americans because they distrust the Shiites. Not a big surprise, I mean, if you can’t get along with al-Qaeda, who can you get along with?

There are many obstacles to a truce, the main one being that they are all crazy. Also, the insurgent groups are fragmented and sometimes engage in turf wars, while in other areas they are getting along great with al-Qaeda. And the Sunnis want the Shiites to rewrite the constitution and to have elections all over again. Basically, there will never be a truce. I can almost hear Cheney wiping the saliva off his chin while he thinks about al-Qaeda and the Sunnis battling it out.

I didn't know wiping saliva made much noise.

same old shit, different millennium...

Hooray. I'm gonna go shoot my AK-47 in the air in a celebratory fashion

That's not saliva. Cheney was visiting his masters in the pit.

I'm so sick of hearing about this shit already...

Does this make it a civil war yet, daddy?

Quran 9:123 : Believers! Make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Let them find harshness in you.

In this case, an infidel is even someone who disagrees with a teeny little bit.

hahahaha! and i bet you thought that Jesus didn't tell us to be hate-mongering, queer-bashing asshats, too, didn't you?!?

Religion of any kind is the one element of human culture that isn't accessable to reason or common sense. That's what makes it so dangerous when it enters the political arena.

Oh, and all of this reminds me of Northen Ireland. Protestants v Catholics. The "Troubles" (Modern conflict) there has been going on for...what...40 years?

Iraq is going to bubble on for 400.

At least they're killing each other.

The Troubles are basically a continuation of a much older conflict, but that war isn't exactly religious even though it's drawn along sectarian lines.

Ha ha.

As I stated, I was refering to "The Troubles" within a modern context, naturally assuming that people would realize the extended history by the fact of me saying "modern".

Comparing the "Troubles" to the Middle East right now though, I can't help but see the Shia as akin to the Catholics, even down to having a Pope (Ayatollahs), and following a follower of the prophet (St. Paul for the Christians & Ali, Muhammed's son in law) rather than the posthumous teachings of the prophet himself more like the Sunnis), which, again, is more akin to the Protestants.

Just as the Catholics and the Protestants in Northern Ireland are sundered by religious hair-splitting and history, so too are the Shias and Sunnis.

So, yes, the long, slow burning war in Northern Ireland has been over religion because that is how they defined the sides. I have first hand experience of Belfast and the scisms. What's yours like?

It has taken 40 years of blood to get to a point where Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams are talking nicely with one another. Compare that to trying to expect the same in the Middle East. In all that time only 3000 people died and 24,000 injured. In 4 years of Iraq the US alone has lost 3000 soldiers (more than those killed in the WTC which has nothing to do with Iraq) and more than 100,000 Iraqis have died. Mostly as "Collateral damage too".

They aren't talking to each other -- apparently they're just tolerating each others' presence. From the Washington Post:
"Adams and Paisley did not speak to each other while the cameras were rolling. At the end of their remarks, Adams looked toward Paisley as if he wanted to shake hands. Paisley looked down and shuffled his papers."

I was going to discuss this further with you, but then you pulled this crap

and I realised that arguing with you would be a waste of time because you're "right" and nothing anyone can say can change that. Because really, how could anyone outside of Ireland know anything of Irish history? How silly of me.

When extremists handle dissenters by resorting to suicide bombing and terrorism, it follows that they'll continue these tactics on everyone who disagrees.

Yeah, well so does the Christian Bible, but that's never stopped the bloodshed either. More people have been killed in the name of god (religion) then for any other reason.

Situation in Sudan or in Iraq is so funny.

Um... Newsflash. Muslims have been killing each other since 632 CE.

Not to be outdone, those zany Christians have been killing each other since 335 CE.

Yay mathilde is back! Missed you!

Well, the West needed two World Wars, a few genocides, and nuclear weapons. So unless Islam manages to work out its kinks more peacefully than Christendom did, I'd say we're all dead men.