[mabelkitty]

I don't understand this, but am very intrigued.

Are the Shi'ites muslims? If so, why are they here and not in Iran?

[Poohbah]

Are the Shi'ites muslims? If so, why are they here and not in Iran?

Shi'ites are Muslims. They are mostly found in Iran, true; but there's a lot in Southern Iraq (which just happens to be next to Iran).

[merrin]

Iraq is majority (60-65%, according to the CIA World Factbook) Shi'a. Saddam is nominally a Sunni Muslim, which is why he has historically oppressed the Shi'a.

Iran has some influence among Iraqi Shi'a Muslims, and we're going to have to take action to make sure that the current Iranian regime gains no influence in liberated Iraq.

[Jim Noble]

>>Are the Shi'ites muslims? If so, why are they here and not in Iran?<<

Excellent question.

Persia (Iran) has existed for 3000 years, more or less where t is today.

"Iraq" was invented by the British Foreign Office in 1922, has no native people and no natural boundaries. They merged three Turkish provinces: Mosul (Kurds), Mesopotamia (Sunni Arabs, Chaldean Christians, Jews) and Basra (Marsh Arabs, Shiites).

Why they did this, I don't know. Why we decided that a guarantee ot the territorial integrity of "Iraq" was a good idea, I cannot fathom except as some kind of misguided multiculturalism.

[goldstategop]

They're different ethnic groups. The Shias in Iraq are Arabs, the Shias in Iran are Persian.

[carton253]

When Great Britain drew the borders... they do so for economic reasons. They cut the Shi'ite population off from Iran...