Another war of religions is taking place in Iraq, in league with Iran to control Syria, where mostly Sunni rebels want to oust Bashir Assad, an Alawite (offtshoot of Shi'itism). Among the Sunni's extreme Salafists, including also Al-Quaeda master provocateurs and terrorists, the rebel army often can't distinguish who has infiltrated its ranks, and perhaps in the desperate situation, they don't care. The USA is become fiercely hated by both sides, as is Turkey and the NATO countries of the EU. What a hell of a mess!
My heart does indeed bleed for these peoples, including the Christian minorities. One Christian grouping has shifted to the Sunni rebels side. I think there's wisdom in this, a situation where all options are now dangerous, risky. God have mercy!
— Politicarp, refWrite Frontpage political newspotter, analyst and columnist
New York Times (Oct27,2k12)
Iraqi Sects Join Battle in Syria
on both sides of the religious war
By YASIR GHAZI and TIM ARANGO
Published: October 27, 2012 68 Comments
BAGHDAD — Militant Sunnis from Iraq have been going to Syria to fight against President Bashar al-Assad for months. Now Iraqi Shiites are joining the battle in increasing numbers, but on the government’s side, transplanting Iraq’s explosive sectarian conflict to a civil war that is increasingly fueled by religious rivalry.
SANA, via Associated Press
Syrian soldiers at the explosion site where a car bomb exploded near Sayyida Zeinab, a Shiite shrine, in June 2012.
Related
Syrian Protesters Emerge Amid Clashes and Bombing During a Holiday Cease-Fire (October 27, 2012)
Syrian War’s Spillover Threatens a Fragile Iraq (September 25, 2012)
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Some Iraqi Shiites are traveling to Tehran first, where the Iranian government, Syria’s chief regional ally, is flying them to Damascus, Syria’s capital. Others take tour buses from the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, on the pretext of making a pilgrimage to an important Shiite shrine in Damascus that for months has been protected by armed Iraqis. While the buses do carry pilgrims, Iraqi Shiite leaders say, they are also ferrying weapons, supplies and fighters to aid the Syrian government.
“Dozens of Iraqis are joining us, and our brigade is growing day by day,” Ahmad al-Hassani, a 25-year-old Iraqi fighter, said by telephone from Damascus. He said that he arrived there two months ago, taking a flight from Tehran.
The Iraqi Shiites are joining forces with Shiite fighters from Lebanon and Iran, driving Syria ever closer to becoming a regional sectarian battlefield.
Lebanon, which has 100,000 Syrian refugees, was pushed to the brink this month when a Sunni intelligence chief was assassinated in a bombing. Many Lebanese blamed the Syrian government and its allies for the attack. Jordan, sheltering more than 180,000 refugees, has struggled to contain the violence on its border, which claimed the life of a Jordanian soldier in a firefight with extremists last week. Turkey, with more than 100,000 refugees, has traded artillery fire with Syria since Syrian shelling killed five civilians near the border early this month.
Now Iraq, still haunted by its own sectarian carnage, has become increasingly entangled in the Syrian war. And Iran, which, like Iraq, is majority-Shiite, appears to be playing a critical role in mobilizing Iraqis.
According to interviews with Shiite leaders here, the Iraqi volunteers are receiving weapons and supplies from the Syrian and Iranian governments, and Iran has organized travel for Iraqis willing to fight in Syria on the government’s side.
Iran has also pressed the Iraqis to organize committees to recruit young fighters. Such committees have recently been formed in Iraq’s Shiite heartland in the south and in Diyala Province, a mixed province north of Baghdad.
Many Iraqi Shiites increasingly see the Syrian war — which pits the Sunni majority against a government dominated by Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam — as a battle for the future of Shiite faith. This sectarian cast has been heightened by the influx of Sunni extremists aligned with Al Qaeda, who have joined the fight against the Syrian government much as they did in the last decade against the Shiite-led Iraqi government.
The article continues with much valuable further information. Click and read, please ... and pray for all, including refugees and Christians still in the country with no security and much fear on a daiuly basis.
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