"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

The Sunnis and the Shi'ites, who can't stand each other, are united to march against a common enemy, who is... ?

An interesting way to unite a nation.

I believe the Brits managed to unite the Muslims and Hindus of India in much the same way during their occupation of the Indian subcontinent. And that unity lasted, right up until the time that the Brits announced their upcoming withdrawal and started the transition to an independent India. What happened? Sectarian bloodshed, followed by Pakistan: a fragmentation of the subcontinent into warring nations whose enmity is a major threat to peace in the area.

Take away their common enemy, and will something similar happen to Iraq?

Surely we don't want an occupying army to remain for a couple hundred years...

Regards--
Mary Anne