From Long War Journal:BAGHDAD, IRAQ: It is a story that played out across Baghdad in 2006 and early 2007, in dozens of mixed and Sunni-dominated neighborhoods: the militias intimidated, and then attacked. What is different about the Ghaydat tribe’s story is that, in this small Sunni corner of the Kadhimiya district, they held their ground, not just against the intimidation but against full-on attacks.
It began, according to the Ghaydat leaders, in late 2005, after a campaign of suicide bombings by al Qaeda in Iraq. “After that, Jaysh al Mahdi began to treat all Sunnis in our area as terrorists who could endanger the Shia people,” said Muhammad Abu Faris, the sheikh of the tribe, referring to the Shia militia group answering to Muqtada al Sadr. “At that time, the people in the government, at the top, we believe that they supported that, and called for that, to displace the Sunnis, keep them away from Shia.”
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