Roger el Simon writes about the recent bombing of churches in Iraq.
One thing that often goes unnoted is that the Iraqis, on average, really don't like it when people try to split or rule them along religious or ethnic lines. That doesn't necessarily mean that everything is all gravy all the time, but I wouldn't take this most recent bombing as being a genuine "religious war assault", so much as an effort to split Iraq apart.
These notes from the Shia community to bear some notice:
"Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani said in a statement that Sunday’s assaults on churches ‘‘targeted Iraq’s unity, stability and independence."...
‘‘This is a cowardly act and targets all Iraqis,’’ Abdul Hadi al-Daraji, spokesman for radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, told Al-Jazeera television.
The more senior al-Sistani, based in the southern city of Najaf, said: ‘‘We assert the importance of respecting the rights of Christian civilians and other religious minorities and reaffirm their right to live in their home country Iraq in security and peace.’’
You will note that these are both Shia, and there was no widespread condemnation of the attacks by Sunni fundamentalists - but then again, given the role of Wahabbism in religious violence in the Middle East, that should be no great surprise.