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Identity

Sunni Or Shiite?

After the fall of Saddam's regime in 2003, the army was dissolved, and former high-ranking Baath Party members were removed from their positions.

Photo by AP

After the fall of Saddam’s regime in 2003, the army was dissolved, and former high-ranking Baath Party members were removed from their positions. Newly bereft of economic and political power, many young Sunnis—especially in the very conservative region of Anbar—heard the ideas of al-Qaeda and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and started to think, “These guys just might have something here.” In the past three years, many of the young, jobless men in Anbar have been indoctrinated. Steadily, the insurgency has become more radical and more criminal. You can’t find these men by looking for them. Even as an experienced Iraqi journalist and a Sunni from Anbar province (the hotbed of Sunni insurgency), I cannot ask anyone to meet the jihadis. They would either laugh in my face, ignore me, or kill me. But in December 2006, the insurgents found me. It was in the hours just before dawn, while I drove down a road along the Euphrates River. Without warning, a large, black BMW with blackened windows pulled around me and forced me to stop. Three young guys armed with AK-47s, their faces masked, got out of the car shouting, “Show me your ID! Show me your ID! Sunni or Shiite? Sunni or Shiite?” In Iraq, this is a question that decides whether you live or die. I told them I was a Sunni and showed them my ID, but many people have faked IDs in this region. They kept asking questions. “From which quarter of Baghdad do you come? Who do you know there? What do you do?” I answered them all, not knowing that they were listening not to what I said, but how I said it. “Your accent is fine,” their leader finally concluded. “If you had spoken wrongly, we would have killed you.” It was the early morning and for some reason, the three boys stopped and chatted with me for a bit. Their leader spoke casually now, as to a brother. “The Shia from southern Iraq nowadays use license plates from Anbar, claiming that the car’s owner is a Sunni. It doesn’t fool us—we get them by their accent, always.” “So you control this area?” I asked. He said, “Of course! This is the Emirate of Ramadi!” “But if you control the area, why are you masked?” “This,” he said with anger, “is the Emirate of Ramadi.” He paused for emphasis. “To be ruled by the true believers in honor of Allah and the Prophet, peace be upon him.” Perhaps he did rule the territory, but how was it defined? What did he hold? What did it mean to rule? During the last months, the situation in western Iraq has turned into anarchy. Everywhere, tiny little emirates—self-declared fiefdoms of gun-toting teenage boys—are proclaimed nightly, or weekly, or monthly. Who can say? I myself know of the “Emirate of Ramadi,” the “Emirate of Haditha,” and the “Emirate of Rawa.” Also, some boys from the small rural village of al-Sufia recently declared their village to be an emirate. It would be laughable, if it were not potentially deadly for many, many people. From al-Qaim to Baghdad, today, everybody does what he wants. It is a complete jumble: There are towns controlled by the government, areas controlled by jihadis, areas controlled by tribes in alliance with the US forces, and still other areas controlled by tribes who stand against both the US and the resistance. The worst areas are those ruled by the jihadis—young, ruthless fanatics like these three who now stood chatting with me. The younger man said, “If I see any Shiite, I will definitely kill him.” “Do you think that killing Shiites here could result in heavy retaliation by Shia militias?” I said. “Wouldn’t it be better to kill Shiites in Baghdad?” “Shiites and all traitors and non-believers should be killed on the spot and at any place. I would even kill my father if he betrayed Islam!” The professions are real. Since the death of Abu Musab, there is no more leadership, no clear order. Jihadis have even killed sheikhs who challenge their position or who resist their demands for money and weapons. And the result: Our life has become more absurd. Rumors circulate all the time about what has been banned by the jihadis. Soon enough it will be, “Tomatoes and cucumbers are no longer tolerated in one salad, since tomatoes are female and cucumbers are male. And goats should have their butts covered, since they expose their genitals.” This all sounds ridiculous, but rumor rules Iraq now. And how can you be sure that the guys with the guns know when something is only a rumor? One of the jihadis began to fidget. Why had I asked questions? Who was I? They began to tense, but then, thanks to God, other cars began to pass, cars perhaps carrying Shiites, and so they took leave in the traditional manner: “OK, cousin, have a good trip, God be with you!” DAUD S., INSTITUTE OF WAR AND PEACE REPORTING