Yesterday, almost a hundred Shi'a were massacred in Iraq and Afghanistan on the holiest day in Shiite Islam. Iraq will soon be without any US troops; ditto Afghanistan, where the sectarian attack was the first since the fall of the Taliban. The pattern is becoming clearer as developments mount:
In the West, it is easy to concentrate on the possibilities that the Arab Spring offers for a more democratic Middle East. More disturbing is the way sectarian blocs are forming and religion is becoming the focal point of conflict. The GCC wants to expand its membership to include other Sunni monarchies, the Arab League and Sunni Turkey impose sanctions on Alawite Syria while Shi'a-majority Iraq and Hizbullah-dominated Lebanon refuse to follow their lead.
The Dish 