Asia Times Online :: Middle East News - Basra tearing itself apart
At the center of Basra's meltdown lies the ongoing conflict between different Shi'ite factions, mainly vying for control over Basra's energy industry and oil smuggling. Domination over local governance through confrontation, and at times violence, has become the routine method of conducting politics in a city that appears to be breaking apart into territories governed by different militias. Such political conflict, however, also includes competing visions of post-Ba'athist Iraq, as each Shi'ite militia advocates a particular ideological agenda (regionalist, nationalist and sectarian), while seeking popular support from various segments of the Shi'ite community in Basra and other southern cities.
At the center of Basra's meltdown lies the ongoing conflict between different Shi'ite factions, mainly vying for control over Basra's energy industry and oil smuggling. Domination over local governance through confrontation, and at times violence, has become the routine method of conducting politics in a city that appears to be breaking apart into territories governed by different militias. Such political conflict, however, also includes competing visions of post-Ba'athist Iraq, as each Shi'ite militia advocates a particular ideological agenda (regionalist, nationalist and sectarian), while seeking popular support from various segments of the Shi'ite community in Basra and other southern cities.
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