This morning's Washington Times carries an article about a new Iraqi/U.S. offensive against the insurgents. A couple of surprising quotes are to be found therein...
The actions followed a wave of suicide attacks on Saturday that killed 55 persons as Iraqi Shi'ites commemorated the seventh-century death of a leader of their Muslim sect. Similar attacks Friday killed 36 persons and injured dozens.
A powerful Sunni organization thought to have ties with the insurgency condemned the attacks, saying all Iraqis should unite "against those who are trying to incite hatred between us."
"We won't remain silent over those crimes which target the Iraqi people — Sunnis or Shi'ites, Islamic or non-Islamic," Sheik Harith al-Dhari of the Association of Muslim Scholars said.
About 70 Sunni tribal leaders met in a central Baghdad hotel to devise a strategy for participation in a future government even though Sunnis won only a handful of seats in the new National Assembly.
"We made a big mistake when we didn't vote," said Sheik Hathal Younis Yahiya, 49, a representative from northern Nineveh where — as in other Sunni areas — the turnout in the Jan. 30 elections was very low. "Our votes were very important."
He said threats from terrorists — not a boycott called by Sunni religious leaders — kept most Sunnis from voting.
Sunni minority status might be the ingredient that makes the Iraqi constitutional convention a roaring success. The Shi'ites are reaching out to involve them in the process. Grand Ayatollah al Sistani has repeatedly said religious clerics should not govern, rather they should advise. As Sunnis lobby a receptive Shi'ite majority for protections and a role in the new government, they might just wind up with a solid bill of rights.
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