The Shia divide

WaPo has an article today on the intra-Shia skirmishes between the Iranian supported Shiite faction and the anti-Iranian, anti-American Shiite faction.

Juan Cole, a professor of the modern Middle East at the University of Michigan, said the recriminations toward Iran were directed at two of the largest Shiite blocs in parliament, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the Dawa party. The Supreme Council was founded in Iran during Saddam Hussein's rule, and it and Dawa retain strong ties to Iran.

"Those groups are often coded as Iranian puppets," said Cole, the author of the book "Sacred Space and Holy War: The Politics, Culture, and History of Shiite Islam." He said many Iraqis believe that the Supreme Council and its militia, the Badr Organization, receive substantial monetary support from Tehran. "It's obviously in the interest of Iran that parties that are friendly to it remain in power in Iraq," Cole said.

He said the hostility among Shiite factions can be traced to the gap between wealthy members of parties tied to Iran, such as the Supreme Council and Dawa, and impoverished cadres of groups critical of Iran, such as followers of Hassani.

"The Shia-on-Shia violence is, in my view, to some extent a class conflict," he said.

Classism? The dynamics at play in this region are so extraordinarily complex. I suppose this was all to be expected as the various players scramble to fill the power void left by Saddam's deposal. As they say, "Nature abhors a vacuum."