Civil strife in Iraq might set the country afire, writes Rasha Saad Calls on Iraqis to be aware of the danger of possibly slipping into a sectarian civil war following the bombing of the Shia sacred mausoleum of Imams Ali Al-Mahdi and Al-Hassan Al-Askari in the city of Samaraa was the message sent by pundits this week. The Jordanian newspaper Al-Rai lamented in its editorial the "horrible, shocking and bloody scenes and the corpses piled in the streets and slums [committed against Sunnis following the attack on Shiite shrines]". The editorial, however, hailed recent signs that beckon optimism and the prevalence of calls for logic, reason and dialogue over calls for confrontation and killings that were repeatedly made shortly after the assault in Samaraa. To escape the ghost of civil strife permanently the editorial wrote that Iraqis are now more than at any time before requested to see what is going on around them and to find a way out of the dangers of falling into a sectarian civil war. It called on them to "come together to form a united stance in which victory at the end belongs to the nation and religion and not to a single party, sect or race". For Ghassan Charbel, this begins by forming an actual national unity government based on a comprehensive national project that aims to shorten the period of occupation, contain terror, deter foreign intervention and build constitutional institutions that enjoy full legitimacy in law and in practice. In his article in the London- based and Saudi-funded daily Al-Hayat, Charbel accused the occupation of "the disintegration that Iraq is experiencing". Charbel wrote that the news in Iraq has been worrying for many years but that the US occupation doubled the danger. "Were it not for the collapse of security institutions, due to arbitrary US decisions, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi would not have been able to find a foothold in Iraq. The decisions themselves allowed [Al-Zarqawi] to establish a stronghold in the Sunni triangle, and thus enter the Iraqi equation," explained Charbel. Though Charbel acknowledges that while he can draw up a long list of errors committed by the occupation, in the end it is called an occupation, "and no one should expect it to be a charity association whose only objective is distributing the bread of democracy and prosperity to the people of the region." Charbel warns that Iraq is not an island that can be left to its fate. "Iraq is not a marginal country that can coexist as civil strife is fanned throughout its territory. Iraq is in the heart of the Arab nation and lives in the conscience of Arabs, and their future calculations." Abdel-Wahab Badrakhan also in Al-Hayat saw it coming several months earlier. "Over the past several months, civil strife was roving, seeking the first spark. Mosques, churches, temples and places of worship were struck. Hundreds of people were killed and wounded. The possessions and properties of people from all religious were obliterated. In fact, it was confirmed that this terrorism is no longer one-faceted and single-handed, but is carried out by gangs and militias spanning across regions and sects." According to Badrakhan these deeds were deliberate and whoever attacked the mausoleum of the Shiite imams in Samaraa was aware that his deed will increase the current tension. "Sectarian strife usually takes place in environments where people stalk one another. One shot is enough to unleash a volley of shots which will only cease following extensive bloodshed. Some sought to exploit what happened in Samaraa to proceed towards an all- out confrontation." In the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, Tariq Al-Homayed wrote that in Arab cultural heritage, the city of Samaraa was formerly called "Surra Man Raa" (he who sees it is delighted). Al-Homayed claims that if the Caliph Al-Mutasim, who built his capital at the height of Abbasid glory, were to see his city today, riddled with terrorism, whose Sunni and Shia shrines remain a symbol of the meeting of sects, he would be tormented with grief. Al-Homayed describes the bombing of the sacred tombs in Samaraa as a reprehensible crime that has damaged mausoleums and tainted religious beliefs and people. "The targeting of religious sites is proof of a general contempt for human lives and beliefs. Day after day, terrorists have demonstrated that nothing is sacred in their book. They have not shied away from ambushing animals and humans and have not recoiled from targeting anything that is alive in order to disturb people's lives," Al-Homayed wrote.
