Baghdad
Insurgent leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi this week declared a “full-scale war on Shiites all over Iraq, wherever and whenever they are found.” His call to arms appears to have already been in effect. Recent insurgent attacks have shifted their focus from U.S. troops and Iraqi police recruits to Shiite civilians, and they’ve grown deadlier. A single suicide bomber killed 114 Shiite laborers last week. Credit for the success of the insurgency goes at least partly to Saddam Hussein, Time magazine reported. Shortly after he was driven from Baghdad, the magazine said, Saddam ordered his henchmen to build insurgent networks across the country. While the U.S. focused on searching for weapons of mass destruction, Baathist loyalists were looting arms caches, wooing tribal leaders, and plotting civil war.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
'"Andor" examines all sides of how empires operate'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
DHS chief Kristi Noem's purse stolen from eaterySpeed Read Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse was stolen while she dined with family at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.
-
Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant moneySpeed Read The Trump administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts after Harvard rejected its demands
