Church & State in Iraq
Reported by Eleanor - August 27, 2004 -
John Gibson on The Big Story (Aug. 27, 5:00 p.m.) talked to Marc Ginsberg about Najaf. One view of this situation is that al Sadr is gone; escaped; free to roam; there is "egg on everyone's face."
Gibson expressed this as a win for the U.S. There was no "open massacre." The Shrine was not blown up. Al Sadr is a target if he's roaming around. Ginsberg spoke of "mission creep." We should not be caught up in a sectarian conflict. Gibson mentioned a "dirty war" and being a "realist," everyone except his followers wanted al Sadr gone. Ginsberg: There is no viable strategy for getting out of Iraq. Gibson: We're committed until January. Ginsberg: Sistani stopped al Sadr, and we "blinked." Gibson: With an election, the president can't afford a "blood bath." Ginsberg: The American people don't want a blood bath, and we should be much smarter than to fall into a sectarian-led trap.
Comment: So now we have Sistani with a lot of negotiating power with the Interim Government. It should be interesting to see how much theocracy, versus how much democracy, will be the result. What happens to separation of church and state when it's Muslim instead of Christian? Another learning curve.
