Sunni, Shi’a . . . what’s the big deal, anyway?

A little history . . . The Muslim community broke into the Sunni and Shi’a denominations (and other minority denominations) in the late 7th century, in a dispute over who would take leadership of the Muslim community after the death of Mohammed. About 85% of the Muslim world is Sunni; Shiites are in the minority in most of the Arab world, including Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Taliban and Al Qaeda are Sunni. There is a Shi’a majority In Iran and Iraq: Iran is 85% Shi’a and Iraq is 65% Shi’a. It is important to understand that the rift between Sunni and Shi’a is not simply a matter of a minor disagreement about religious and political leadership; wars have been fought between Sunni and Shi’a, and there is a history of oppression of one group by the other, and inter-tribal rifts along denominational lines going back hundreds of years. So the idea that Iran, a Shiite theocracy, would be training and supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni insurgent group which incites sectarian violence, is absurd in that context. Furthermore, if you don’t understand the difference between Sunni and Shi’a, you can’t possibly understand the delicate socio-political problem that Iraq faces.

Getting this all wrong isn’t simply a "gaffe," this is something John McCain gets wrong again and again and again:

November 25, 2007: "Al Qaeda is not defeated," McCain told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week. "They're on the run, but they are not defeated, and they continue to get supplies and equipment through Iran, and they continue to get suicide bombers through Syria."

February 28, 2008: In a speech at the Baker Institute for Public Policy: "Al Qaeda is there, they are functioning, they are supported in many times, in many ways by the Iranians . . ."

March 17, 2008: McCain said on the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show, "As you know, there are Al Qaeda operatives that are taken back into Iran, given training as leaders, and they're moving back into Iraq."

March 18, 2008: In Jordan with Sen. Joe Lieberman, McCain stated that, "Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training . . ." and had to be corrected by Lieberman.

March 19, 2008: McCain Presidential Campaign Press Release: "Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated."

April 8, 2008: During General David Petreaus’s testimony before the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, Sen McCain asked Gen. Petreaus, "Do you still view Al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat . . . Certainly not an obscure sect of, uh, Shiites, or Sunnis, or anybody else?"

To give you an idea of how complicated all of this is: There isn’t a single us-against-them "bad guy" in Iraq. Prime Minister Maliki’s ruling Shiite party, that our soldiers are dying for, was founded in Shiite Iran. Meanwhile, the Sunni warlords, whose support we’re paying for with our tax dollars, are opposed to the Iranian-backed Shiite government we support. Meanwhile, a separate "Sadrist" Shiite faction is fighting both the Sunni warlords we’re paying and the Iranian-backed Shiite ruling party we’re also supporting. But McCain can’t deal with this complexity.

Incidentally, the entirely separate, and relatively insignificant, Sunni group known as "Al Qaeda in Iraq" appears to be unaffiliated with "Al Qaeda" who took down the World Trade Center. Not to mention that "Al Qaeda in Iraq" didn’t exist until after we invaded Iraq, but that’s another story altogether.

So the idea that we are in Iraq fighting Al Qaeda is disingenuous at best. Either McCain, despite all his years in Washington, doesn’t understand this, or he has to lie about it to make his policies appear sane.