After years of harsh repression under Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s majority Shiites finally came to political power in the wake of the 2003 U.S. invasion, and have largely held on to it through wrenching chapters of sectarian civil war, terrorist uprisings and internal tensions.
Now, long-building frictions among some Shiite factions have erupted into deadly fighting on the streets of Baghdad, leaving 24 dead. The turmoil has raised fears that the country is caught in a perilous cycle with no functioning government and no common ground to make one.
