Iraq's Sectarian Conflicts Are Crossing Over Into Syria

Iraqi Civil War Plays Out In Syria -- Hugh Macleod and A Reporter in Syria, Salon/GlobalPost

Shiites and Sunnis say they’re fighting a sectarian battle triggered when the U.S. toppled Sadam.

DAMASCUS, Syria — Divided by history, geography and God, Abu Mohammed and Abu Hamza both smoke Marlboro cigarettes and agree on one point: The war for Syria is also a war for Iraq.

Driven from their homes by the 2003 US-led war in Iraq, both men, now in their 40s, found refuge for themselves and their families in neighboring Syria.

Nearly a decade later, both are back in the country that once sheltered them.

But this time their wives and children are no longer with them. The men are not in Syria to flee a war, but to fight one. Abu Mohammed, a Sunni, is training rebels in Aleppo. Abu Hamza, a Shiite, is battling alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Damascus.

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My Comment: Islam has been at war with itself for centuries .... the past century of peace (more or less) has just been a respite.