If you didn’t think the situation in Iraq could get any more divisive on a sectarian: prepare to be surprised, as Iraqi forces are moving to round up Sunnis they accuse of planning to join in an ISIS assault on the capital city.
As ISIS takes the cities surrounding Baghdad, a direct invasion of the capital itself is inevitable. While the military has made some effort to gear up for such a fight, the focus right now seems to be on intimidating local Sunnis, and accusing them of planning betrayal.
Iraq is dubbing them “sleeper cells” of ISIS, and claims there are 1,000 on the outskirts of Baghdad, and another 1,500 inside Western Baghdad itself, strategically clustered around the Green Zone.
The Green Zone comments appear to be in part an effort to coax the US into further escalation, as it houses the massive US embassy. Western Baghdad likewise covers the entire area between the Green Zone and the airport, meaning the losses could severely impede evacuation of the embassy.
Maliki is in a rush to complete his sectarian cleansing mission…
Americans captured Sunni plans for attack on Baghdad, complete with maps. These plans called for taking "belts" of Sunni neighborhoods all the way around Baghdad, then a seige of the Shiites in the center, rather than the manpower intensive mess of an assault on a city. Likely something like that is the plan now. It will look more like one of the big Syrian cities that have been given the same treatment.
And just think, if more Muslims followed the Qur'an only, all of this sectarian division would be gone and none of this stupidity would see the light of day. Instead, they choose to perpetuate misguided teachings that aren't supported by the teachings of Allah- or the Prophet, for that matter- and as a result they debase the faith and make their part of the world a dangerous place indeed. I broke out of the Sunni/Shi'a/Sufi mold and discovered a practice of Islam that is far superior to anything they can offer.