Sectarian Violence Plagues Iraq Neighborhoods

As Iraqi politicians seek to come to an agreement over the government's future , sectarian divisions continue to fuel violence in Baghdad and throughout the country. The tension runs especially high in mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods, such as the Tobji neighborhood of Baghdad, which has become a battleground of sectarian hostilities.

Washington Post Baghdad correspondent Sudarsan Raghavan was online Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 11 a.m. ET , to discuss sectarian violence in Iraq.

The transcript follows.

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Sudarsan Raghavan: Hello everyone,

Thanks a lot for joining us. This is my first online chat, so treat me kindly. I already see a bunch if great questions from around the country. so let's get to it.

Cheers

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Rolla, Mo.: A just released poll shows a large majority of Iraqis want US troops out, now. The conventional wisdom, touted by politicians and the main stream media, is that an immediate withdrawal would cause even more chaos there. My question, who should I believe, those on the Iraqi streets, or those inside the Beltway?

Sudarsan Raghavan: Hi Rolla, MO

This is a great question to launch our discussion. When I see such polls, I have a lot of questions. Which Iraqis did the pollsters speak to? Do they live in safe neighborhoods or ones where death squads roam with impunity? Sure, I've spoken to many Iraqis who no doubt want the U.S. troops to leave. They usually give two main reasons: 1) they don't want to see their nation occupied, and 2) they blame the U.S. occupation for the ongoing sectarian chaos, the lack of social services like electricity and health care. the optimism they felt after the invasion has faded. Yet when I speak with Sunnis and Shiites in extremely violent Baghdad neighborhoods they often tell me that they want American troops to secure their streets and not leave. They don't trust the Iraqi security forces to protect them. So like everything else in Iraq, the answer to your question is complex, and cannot easily be defined through polls.

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Herndon, Va.: Enjoy your reading your work. Please talk about who has left Baghdad/Iraq. Is the middle/upper class almost gone? Is there going to be anyone left, assuming there is ever a "democracy." Will there be anyone left to constitute a critical mass of secular/professionals? Thanks.

Sudarsan Raghavan: Thanks Herndon, Va.

Another great question. Virtually every day I hear of middle class and professionals leaving the country. Almost everyone who can afford to leave or send a relative out of Iraq is doing so. Many are headed to Beirut, Dubai, Cairo, or Europe, if they have the cash or better yet, relatives who can sponsor them. Another indicator: The Iraqi passport office in Baghdad is crowded daily. The mood among the middle class is that the Iraq's insecurity will only get worse. Yet at the same time, Iraqis are a resilient people and they feel deep pride for their country, where civilization began more than 5000 years ago. So many, I like to think, are leaving Iraq to wait it out, and they will return when life is better here. Iraq will certainly need them to come back, in order to rebuild itself physically and spiritually.

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Camberley, U.K.: There has been a crew following British forces in provinces seeing and treating Iraq children of which my partner is the doctor for. I wondered if you had any stories or coverage on this as being a senior nurse I feel this is great news that is potentially being missed as to what good troops are doing in building relationships with and supporting the locals who may be sick and injured during this terrible war.

Sudarsan Raghavan: thanks Camberley, UK

Sounds like a worthy story to pursue. I spent nearly eight years covering Africa, and I often wrote about the plight of children. It's definitely important in the Iraq context.

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Tuebingen, Del.: What do you think how secure is the future of Kurdish entity in Iraq? I mean: do you see there a strong U.S. guarantee like one for Israel?

Sudarsan Raghavan: Thanks Tuebingen, Del

love the name of your town. If there's any place in Iraq that can be called secure it's the Kurdish regions. They've been autonomous now for years, and in most areas they are extremely pro-American. I visited the area last month, and I was struck by the how much freedom I had to move around safely -- unlike Baghdad.

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Seattle, Wash.: In your colleague, Rajiv Chandasekaran's book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, he quotes John Agresto as writing that government by the few is easy to build but government by the many, government by democracy, is hard to build. Agresto also suggests that Bremer and the CPA staff did not have a clue as to what made our own democracy really work. Chandasekaran's book suggests that the whole CPA process was a failure. Do you agree?

The debate in America continues to be over troop numbers, the failure to have enough troops, and when they should be withdrawn. But isn't this debate really irrelevant. The real debate should be how to empower the Iraqis to define their own future. None of our politicians address that issue.

Sudarsan Raghavan: Hello Seattle

Rajiv's book, I will shamelessly plug, is a must read for understanding the calamities unfolding in today's Iraq. Was the whole CPA process a failure? I'll let you reach your own conclusion. But what is clear is that the roots of some of the immense problems facing Iraq today, especially in reconstruction efforts and building Iraq's security forces, can be traced back to decisions taken in the Green Zone, the year after the U.S.-led invasion. To empower Iraqis to define their own future requires providing security and basic social services. And they have neither now.

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New Hampshire: Hi Sudarsan and thank you very much for your article this morning. I am heartsick about the civil war that is making the streets of Iraq run with the blood of brothers and sisters.

I was and am very much against this invasion and occupation. But, it seems to me that the failure of the "Coalition of the Willing" to establish security and hope for the Iraqi people led to this horrific nightmare. I wonder at times if it was just benign neglect. Please tell me, do the Iraqi people (not the official spokesmen and women) blame America and do they have any hope at all for an end to all of the violence?

Sudarsan Raghavan: Hi New Hampshire, and glad you liked the story today about the Tobji neighborhood.

I point you to my answer to Rolla, MO. It depends on who you talk with. But I am sensing that many Iraqis have little hope that the violence will end. I constantly hear from Iraqis who are stunned by the sectarian violence unfolding in their lives. For centuries, Iraq was a place where Sunnis and Shiites, at least in their daily lives, rarely cared about their sects. Now Sunnis and Shiite are killing each other. That scares Iraqis. It makes many believe that a civil war is on their horizon (many say they are already in the middle of a low grade civil war)

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Wheaton, Md.: Have attacks on Christians increased since the Pope's comments on Islam?

Sudarsan Raghavan: Hi Wheaton, Md.

A day after the Pope's comments, there was an attack on a church in the southern city of Basra. Other than this, Christians here have not been targeted by the Pope's comments. Much of the anger has come from clerics who were outraged. But fortunately, they didn't call upon their followers to rise up and target Iraq's Christian minority.

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Lyon, France: Is there any real proof that Iran is sponsoring the Shi'ite insurgents in Iraq the same way they're sponsoring the Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon?

Sudarsan Raghavan: Hello Lyon, France

A very good question. As of now, it is no. The U.S. military says it has evidence that some Iranian-made weapons are being used by Shiite militias, but as of yet they have failed to produce this evidence, although many journalists have asked. So it's very unclear to what extent, if any, Iran is backing militias in Iraq.

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Silver Spring, Md.: I have been expecting more reporting about the neighborhood-by-neighborhood Balkanization for several months. While we have had a difficult enough time getting a handle on the Shiite-Sunni-Kurd framework for the violence in Iraq, it is my understanding from Scott Ritter and other Iraq hands that there are several other layers of loyalty such as tribal, familial, militia-related, etc. that are in play in the power struggles that are naturally occurring. My question is this: Is it even possible to figure out who to talk to try and achieve some stability and peace in Iraq?

Sudarsan Raghavan: Hi Silver Spring, Md.

Yeah, you are absolutely right. This is one of the major struggles facing the fragile Iraqi government. There are simply too many interests in play, from sects to religion and tribes. Yet, there are also key personalities, such as radical cleric Muqtada Sadr, who are central to Iraq's stability because they have the power to unify at least parts of the population.

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Durbin, SA: Do you think that the 2500 hard core al Qaeda prisoners that Pakistani dictator Musharraf released last week will contribute to violence in Iraq?

Sudarsan Raghavan: Hello Durbin, SA

I'm not sure which prisoner release you're talking about. But it is absolutely too early to tell if they will end up in Iraq.

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Arlington, Va.: You said: "Yet when I speak with Sunnis and Shiites in extremely violent Baghdad neighborhoods they often tell me that they want American troops to secure their streets and not leave"

What are these same people's views toward the opposite sect? Do the Sunnis want to live in a Shiite-dominated democracy? So the Shiite want to allow the minority a say?

Are these same people willing, if given the tools, to secure their own streets? Are they hopelessly out-numbered and out-resolved by those that ferment violence?

Sudarsan Raghavan: Hello Arlington

It depends on who you talk with. Many Sunnis are apprehensive about living under a Shiite-dominated government, and there is a deepening rift between Iraq's two major sects. But at the same time, there are still plenty of mixed-neighborhoods, where Sunnis and Shiites are determined not to let the sectarian strife tear into their relationships. In some neighborhoods, you do see joint Sunni-Shiite neighborhood patrols. But most Iraqis say they feel utterly helpless in the face of militias, death squads and insurgents attacking their areas.

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Springfield, Va.: You say the on-the-street Iraqi population wants the U.S. military to secure their streets.

Obviously the size of the U.S. and largely token coalition force contingents preclude 24/7 security of the Iraqi populace and your report today on a particular Iraqi neighborhood give little hope for a near-term indigenous Iraqi solution.

In your opinion, does it appear that Iraq is headed for a total "melt-down" similar to what we observed in Lebanon or a dominant power take-over such as we saw in Vietnam and Cambodia?

Sudarsan Raghavan: Hello Springfield,

On the streets of Baghdad, you do hear concerns about a Lebanon-like melt down, where different sects are fighting for power and control of the streets. But it's too soon, I believe, to know in which direction Iraq is headed, although the current indicators are very grim. There are too many variables, starting from the key question on everyone's minds: when will the US troops pull out?

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Munich, Germany: Your description of of the Tobji neighborhood sounds like a real war zone with its barbed wire and barricades.

What do you make of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's comments that "Iraq is not in Chaos", in his interview with Lally Weymouth?

Is his optimism driven by necessity, or has he perhaps lost touch with the daily conditions in Baghdad?

Sudarsan Raghavan: Thanks Munich

You definitely hear a more positive outlook from leaders, as can be expected. But Talabani, I think, can certainly point to the Kurdish areas as a relative oasis of calm compared to the rest of Iraq. I don't think any Iraqi leader has lost touch with the masses. all they have to do is watch the local TV channels. Everyday, they play footage from the daily violence.

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Sudarsan Raghavan: Thanks all,

That's all the time I have for questions.

I have to file a daily story.

Cheers,

Sudarsan

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