Sunni, Shia March Together in Baghdad for Peace
Sunday, December 23, 2007 at 08:53PM The United States favors an Iraq that offers its people freedom at home. I categorically reject arguments that this is unattainable due to Iraq's history or its ethnic or sectarian make-up. Iraqis deserve and desire freedom like everyone else. - Bill Clinton, Iraq Liberation Act of 1998
About 1,000 Iraqi Shia and Sunni citizens joined together on the sectarian fault line in Rawaniyah, the Karkh District of Baghdad, to march with one another in what they called a “Peace March” on December 19. This was an Iraqi initiated march created to unify above sectarian divides. 
It was an exciting yet emotional day for Iraqis who participated. One man said,
"We thank our God, our families and our friends that our neighborhood is safe and free of violence."
A local sheik who spoke at the event said:
"They marched for their peace, for their friends and for their brothers. Today we march for us being brothers forever."
CPT Marcus Melton, commander of Pale Horse Troop, 4th Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, said:
"The mindset that Shias stay on this side of the fence and Sunnis stay on the other carried over from the violence which once plagued the area. There is only a street, Sheik Murah Street, which separates these men. To the west of this street is a Shia neighborhood. To the east is a Sunni neighborhood.
"So it’s a sectarian line dividing the two. They are working really hard within themselves to kind of get over this (sectarian mindset).
"I know they are moving forward and making progress. Certainly they have issues and problems and growing pains, but they have made a tremendous amount of progress."
I think Bill Clinton was on to something.
Trackback URL:
http://amyproctor.squarespace.com/blog/trackback/1446420
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (3)
This is where the rubber meets the road in the GWOT. Thanks for posting this, Amy - wish the whole world would read your blog. Great work!
Thanks. Of course, the credit goes to the Iraqi people. This is what Bill Clinton saw in Iraq that made it different than many other Middle Eastern countries: their diversity and ability to get along. It isn't easy, just as there are racial and socio-economic/even ethnic tensions here in the United States, but Iraqis are really trying to make the most of this opportunity we're giving them.
If you read the whole article, CPT Melton, whom I quoted above, goes on to say that this very phenominon is what will give Iraq's federal government a chance to make progress. If the people at the local level reject sectarianism, their elected officials will have to follow suit.
ABC News 23 DEC 2007:
'Sunni Awakening': Insurgents Are Now Allies