[lbo-talk] The Ayatollah: Iraq's Archduke Ferdinand?

[Dwayne Monroe]

The Ayatollah: Iraq's archduke?

The killing of an Iraqi Shia leader could be the event
that ignites the country's tensions and causes a
regional conflagration, writes Brian Whitaker

Brian Whitaker
Monday September 1, 2003
The Guardian

The worst act of violence in Iraq since the fall of
Saddam Hussein was overshadowed in Britain's
broadsheet papers on Saturday by news that Tony
Blair's media adviser had resigned.

In the popular tabloids meanwhile, two celebrity
stories vied for readers' attention: Madonna's
"lesbian" kiss with Britney Spears and the publication
of David Beckham's autobiography.

Well, that's journalism. But a few years from now we
may look back on the bombing that killed Ayatollah
Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim, along with more than 90 other
Shia Muslims, as a pivotal event that tipped the
balance towards civil war and the disintegration of
Iraq.

The killing of Ayatollah Hakim, the country's most
prominent Shia cleric, has been likened to murdering
the Pope, but it's more serious than that because
popes these days have little real influence.

Ayatollah Hakim was also head of the Supreme Council
for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), the leading
Shia political organisation. A better comparison would
be the murder of the Austrian archduke that sparked
the first world war.

[...]

full at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4744689-103550,00.html




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