Shiite Quotes

Just imagine if a Shiite couple are seeking a divorce. She can get a divorce under the civil code and with difficulty get it under Shiite law, but no alimony or child custody (for children) above a certain age. . . . This is a recipe for real problems.

Certainly the violence in Iraq has been much lower than it might have been, because there`s been a fair deal of restraint among Shiite leaders. And that might end now - they may feel the need to really go after the Sunni Arabs as a diversion.

The constitution is not only a disaster for a lot of the people who share the secular democratic perspective, whether Sunni, Shiite or Kurdish. It`s also leading to some version of a sharia state . . . not necessarily a theocracy but certainly a state where there is a dominant role for Muslim clerics.

I also warned that it was entirely possible that Shiite Iraqis would become mobilized and approach fellow Shiite Ayatollahs in Iran.