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https://www.wsj.com/articles/iraqs-shiite-sunni-divide-eases-1525167000

MIDDLE EAST

Iraq’s Shiite-Sunni Divide Eases
Grim outcome of Islamic State’s sectarian violence prompts Sunni politicians to ally with former Shiite foes

By Isabel Coles and Ali Nabhan

May 1, 2018 5 30 a.m. ET

FALLUJAH—The highway to this western Iraqi city, long synonymous with Sunni resistance
against Iraq’s Shiite-led government, now showcases signs the sectarian tensions that have
ravaged the country for 15 years are ebbing.

The road to Fallujah is lined with posters promoting Sunni candidates as part of Shiite-
dominated coalitions for this month’s national election. Many of the same politicians who
stirred up animosity now speak of unity, as they court voters fed up with years of sectarian
politics that culminated in Islamic State’s takeover of a third of the country.

“We are really exhausted and don’t care who rules us, as long as we can lead a normal life,” said
23-year-old Fallujah shop owner Muhammad Saoud.

Candidates for Iraq’s parliament aren’t blind to that attitude. Sunni politician Mohammed
Yaseen’s Iraqi Islamic Party was a driving force behind the Sunni protest movement in 2013
that was ultimately hijacked by Islamic State. Now he is running in Fallujah as an ally of Shiite
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who last week became the first Iraqi leader in 15 years to
campaign in what has been essentially enemy territory for the government.

“Past experience has proved to our people that Iraqis should be united,” Mr. Yaseen said.

Iraqi politics has played along sectarian lines since the U.S. invaded the country and unseated
dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. That effectively empowered the Shiite majority through the
ballot box, a new order rejected by Sunnis, who felt they lost out. That political schism led to
years of violence and governing dysfunction, eventually fueling Islamic State’s success.

Four years later, the utter devastation visited on Islamic State-occupied Sunni areas has ended
any meaningful resistance to the political order that took shape after 2003. Sunni politicians
who at first trumpeted Islamic State’s conquest as a revolution against the Shiite-led
government have lost credibility among those who endured extreme violence and privation
under militant rule.

The message ahead of next week’s election, from both Sunni and Shiite politicians, is one of
solidarity. Electoral groupings headed by Shiite parties expect to win more seats in Sunni areas
than ever before. And some Sunni politicians who were forced to flee the country when
sectarian tensions were at their height have rejoined the political mainstream.

“The Sunnis have come to terms with the fact they are merely an accessory to power,” said
prominent Sunni politician Mishaan al-Jubbouri. “They are completely crushed.”

Whether the trend can be sustained will depend not only on the next government, but also on
the actions of regional players that have previously stoked sectarian tensions in Iraq to further
their own agendas.

Gulf Arab states that previously sponsored Sunni efforts to change the status quo in Baghdad
are now pursuing a different approach to Iraq. Saudi Arabia and its allies are engaging
 Iraqis passing by an campaign poster for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in central Baghdad late last month. PHOTO:
AHMED JALIL EPA EFE REX SHUTTERS EPA SHUTTERSTOCK

moderate Shiite politicians such as Mr. Abadi in a bid to pull Iraq out of Iran’s sphere of
influence.

That has pushed most Sunni politicians in Iraq to realign themselves with Baghdad. “We face a
big challenge: to integrate with the political process and forget about regaining power,”
admitted Sunni politician Mahmoud al-Mashhadani.

Street rubble in Fallujah early last year, seven months after the city was recaptured from Islamic State. PHOTO: FALK
NIELSEN NURPHOTO ZUMA PRESS

In turn, Shiite politicians can no longer convincingly use the Sunni threat to mobilize their own
constituency. “At certain times during the past 15 years, Sunnis and Shia saw the bad apples
among the others as an existential threat,” said Fanar Haddad, a research fellow at the National
University of Singapore who wrote a book about sectarianism in Iraq. “That is no longer the
case.”

In the city of Fallujah, civilians trying to rebuild their lives after three years of war and
displacement blame their own politicians as much as the government for leading them to ruin.

“They abandoned us and left when Daesh came,” said Mr. Saoud, the Fallujah shop owner, using
a common derogatory term for Islamic State.

Memories of Islamic State’s reign of terror are everywhere. A traffic roundabout in the city
center, now the site of an election billboard, is where Islamic State publicly executed its
opponents; a five-story building, now covered with campaign posters, is where the militants
pushed men accused of homosexuality to their deaths.

Moderating the sectarian tension is the realization among Sunnis here that they largely have
the Shiites who make up the bulk of Iraq’s security forces to thank for freeing them from Islamic
State. When Iraq’s predominately Shiite forces entered Sunni areas occupied by Islamic State,
Sunni politicians warned of a sectarian bloodbath, but it never materialized.
 Now Sunni politicians have
RELATED been forced into pragmatism,
with some even running on
U.S.-Led Coalition Signals End of Major Combat Operations in Iraq (April 30)
an electoral list representing
Iraq Struggles to Exhume and Identify Slaughtered Victims of Islamic State (April 4)
Shiite militias who were
After Defeating Islamic State, Iraq’s Shiites Turn Ire Toward Government (March 12)
accused of most of the
A Marine Returns to Fallujah, 10 Years On (Nov. 10, 2017)
abuses that did take place in
the course of their battle
against Islamic State.

“They [Sunni politicians] are kissing the hands of whoever has influence,” said Hameed
Muhammad Mikhlif, 51, at a camp for displaced persons near Fallujah. “Now it’s about who’s
strong and who’s weak.”

Good relations with the government are also essential for Sunnis seeking funds to rebuild.
Iraq’s allies have pledged around $30 billion in loans and credit to Baghdad—a mere fraction of
the more than $80 billion the government says it needs to fix the damage done by Islamic State.

Mr. Abadi has capitalized on the shift by striking a conciliatory note and promoting a national
identity, broadening his appeal beyond his own Shiite Arab constituency. His so-called Victory
electoral list is the only one to field candidates in all 18 of Iraq’s governorates, and polls project
it will win a significant number of seats from Sunnis, giving him an edge over other lists with a
narrower pool of voters.

“Iraq appeared divided and partitioned, and was pushed towards becoming ethnic and
sectarian cantons… but we have turned that page,” Mr. Abadi said last week at his historic
campaign stop in Fallujah. “In victory we achieved unity.”

Write to Isabel Coles at isabel.coles@wsj.com and Ali Nabhan at ali.nabhan@wsj.com

Appeared in the May 2, 2018, print edition as 'Iraq’s Shiite-Sunni Schism Loses Its Bite.'

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