No one wants another Saddam. To that end the ethnic and religious divides among the people of Iraq should be respected. This is somewhat the final chapter in the Iranian Revolution, isn't it?
Iraqi Shiite tribal leaders gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood Friday to appeal for followers to join the government's fight against the advancing Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militia. (Karim Kadim / Associated Press)
June 13, 2014
By Nabih Bulos, Carol J. Williams
Iraqi Shiite tribal leaders gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood Friday to appeal for followers to join the government's fight against the advancing Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militia. (Karim Kadim / Associated Press)June 13, 2014
By Nabih Bulos, Carol J. Williams
Ilamic militants took control of two more cities in northeastern Iraq on Friday, prompting a senior cleric in the violence-plagued country to call on Shiite Muslim followers to take up arms against the invaders.
Fighters from the resurgent Al Qaeda splinter group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have rolled over large swaths of Iraqi territory in recent days, meeting little resistance from Iraq's marginalized Sunni Muslim minority and wide-scale retreat of Iraqi soldiers....
It is rather incredible to realize the current President of Iran is a first class diplomat, well respected and accepted internationally. If it were a more controversial President the dynamics might be very different. At the same time, in the USA, peace initiatives are first for President Obama. To that end there is no one from The West or Iran racing into an unjustified battle. I am encouraged by the willingness of the nations in the region to participate to uphold the ethnic and religious differences within the Iraq to protect them rather than continue bloodshed. The outcomes are somewhat hopeful at this time. I look forward to a stable region with perhaps clearer borders of nations not completely content with their current status.
