Iraqi Politics: a Flashback
Apparently the Sunni insurgents in Iraq are splitting up. Right now, it looks like some are ending their alliance with al-Qaeda. Soon there will be other break-ups along tribal and clan lines as well- there are already signs of splits even within the parliamentary Tawafuq Sunni group. The Shi'as have their own two major divisions, between the Sadrists and the former SCIRI, the al-Hakeem group. The Da'awa Party of PM al-Maliki was the main target of the Ba'ath regime and the scourge of its royal allies in the Persian Gulf tribal monarchies during the 1980s. But the Da'awa does not have a large popular base now: the Sadrist movement has taken over much of that.

Some news reports now claim that part of a major Sunni insurgent group in Iraq, dubbed the "the 1920 Revolution" has been shifting away from al-Qaeda and may be receiving U.S arms to fight its 'former' allies.

Ironically, the 1920 Revolution, later called al-thawra al-Iraqiyya al-Kubra , was a rebellion against the British occupation after World War I and its plan of creating a mandate in Iraq. It led to some cooperation between the majority Shi'as and the Sunni ulema religious elders against the British. Grand Ayatollah Shirazi issued a fatwa at the time, pointing out that it was against Islamic law for Muslims to countenance being ruled by non-Muslims.

The Sunni elites had in the past supported the Tukish-Ottoman rule, and they saw an opening with the Brits, which they exploited. They quickly became the favorites of the likes of Gertrude Bell and Percy Cox. The Shi'as and the Kurds were vehemently opposed to British rule. Those two groups bore the brunt of British anger and armor, as their villages and towns were bombed and shelled.

In the end the British were forced to form an 'Iraqi' government for the new country, but this government was not totally 'Iraqi': it was mainly a Sunni regime, formed largely of imported former Ottoman lackeys from Syria and Hijaz and local Ottoman lackeys from places like Baghdad and Samarra. In the end the British had their revenge on the rebellious Shi'as: they gave the power in the new Iraqi state to the Sunni minority, who held it with force until 2003. The Kurds, as usual, got the worst deal: they were effectively relegated to third-class citizenship, just behind the Shi'as.
Cheers
Mohammed