Word: shi
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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American pilots flying over southern Iraq held their fire as the Republican Guard massacred Shi'ites on the ground. Bush refrained from aiding Kurdish rebels in the north, although he finally sent troops and relief supplies to protect hundreds of thousands of fleeing Kurds who were in danger of freezing or starving to death...
Bush has never regretted his decision not to intervene. It's debatable whether he could have given the Shi'ites and Kurds enough firepower to topple Saddam without American soldiers' being sucked into a civil war. These days George W. Bush bristles when others question whether the U.S. betrayed the Iraqis. But the decision of the father not to intervene has become a handy way for some of his son's allies to explain why the cheering for U.S. soldiers has so far been muted. --By Douglas Waller/Washington
...Soldiers of 2nd Battalion," ordered Lieut. Colonel Chris Hughes. "Smile!" With that, infantrymen of the 101st Airborne Division, armed to the teeth, began flashing their choppers at a crowd that had grown restless as the soldiers approached the mosque at the Tomb of Ali in Najaf, one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest sites. The tactic helped win over a crowd that had more questions than answers. Were the soldiers going to storm the mosque, as some agitators were shouting? Were they liberators? Or conquerors? Were they really going to kill Saddam Hussein this time...
...Americans were further encouraged when a group of local Shi'ites said they wanted to join the fight against Saddam. Both sides agreed to convene at the city center, and tanks were sent to secure the area. The site, it turned out, was dwarfed by a giant statue of Saddam on horseback. Lieut. Colonel Ben Hodges, the brigade commander, got an idea. After confirming that the statue really was of Saddam, he had engineers wrap the base with explosives. Then he waited...
...hours later about 30 Shi'ite fighters arrived. They were wearing new military vests and carrying Russian-made weapons. Not an army, said a special-forces soldier, though he added, "It's a start. Tomorrow we will have 10 times this number." The Shi'ite leader, who did not wish to be identified, was beaming as he approached the U.S. troops. He told the soldiers how he hated Saddam and how all the people in Najaf hated Saddam. He went to great pains to make clear that his was a self-financed outfit, independent of the U.S. army. Asked...