Irak

[Schneemann]

Nicht nur, dass der Irak selbst noch weit davon entfernt ist, ein vergleichsweise ruhiges Land zu werden, droht die Gefahr, dass der Syrien-Konflikt, der ja auch auf den gemischtreligiösen Libanon immer stärker durchschlägt ob des Zwists zwischen Sunniten und Schiiten und (auch) der Intervention der Hisbollah beim Nachbarn, auch den Irak auf diese Weise in den Konflikt hineinzieht. Sektierer aus dem Irak, Sunniten wie Schiiten, scheinen verstärkt in Syrien mitzumischen - und man kann sich ausmalen, was das bedeutet, wenn diese in den immer noch instabilen Irak zurückkehren...

Iraqi Sects Join Battle in Syria on Both Sides

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.

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. [...] 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.

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Schneemann.