From Missing Links
".....There is another point where it appears some progress has been made, and that is in relation to the Shiites. Earlier statements attributed to IAI spokespeople have not had anything good to say about Shiites, referring to them mainly in connection with the "Safavid" Iran and consequently as hypothetical or real enemies. In this interview, the remarks with reference to Shiites are noticeably different. Asked about the possibility of agreement with people of "different sects", he said:
"We support any social agreements that work to the benefit of religion and of the state by throwing out the occupiers and lifting oppression from the people. We invite the Arab Shiites to reject the occupation in all its shapes and forms, and not to comply with the Safavid ambitions.
And we welcome the positive reaction of the Arab Shiite tribes in their intifada against the Safavids who oppressed their views and their freedoms. What you are seeing in the South by way of activities of the [Shiite] tribes are steps in the right direction."
This is a lot different from the blanket denunciations in earlier statements.
The three points fit together: (1) Abandonment of the takfiiri crowd, means there isn't any basis for ruling out Shiites on the basis of religious definitions. (2) Finding a general non-religious definition of "politics" in principle opens the door to political discussions with groups on a range from secular to strict Islamic. And (3) there is recognition that Shiite groups can be patriotic Iraqis too....."
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