The Jordanian Salafi terrorist Ahmad Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalayleh, a.k.a Abu Musa'ab Al-Zarqawi, succeeded in one of his two main goals. He wanted to establish an Islamic 'Emirate' in part of Iraq, and that is not likely to be realized, not without oil, although the jury is still out. His other goal was publicized in his shocking famous message , displaying a breath-taking hatred of the Shi'as (Shi'ites) in a style reminiscent of the Third Reich.  The Zarqawi letter of 2005 refers to the Shi'ites as "the overwhelming obstacle, the lurking snake, the crafty and malicious scorpion, the spying enemy, and the penetrating venom." It blames Shi'ites for "patent polytheism," "worshipping at graves,", "circumambulating shrines," and "insulting the mothers of the believers and the elite of this nation (not clear who the insulted 'elite' would be)."

He succeeded in pushing his expressed opinion of the Shi'as (Shiites) toward acceptance by the mainstream Sunni media, mostly along the sectarian fault lines in the Persian Gulf region where tribalism dominates and sectarian feelings have always been barely below the surface. The electoral rise of the Shi'as in Iraq and the growth of the violent militias in Baghdad as a counter to the Jihadist/Ba'athist terror, have exacerbated anti-Shi'a tensions in other countries, mainly the Gulf states and Lebanon, where the Shi'as form either a substantial minority, a plurality (Lebanon), or a majority (Bahrain). Surprisingly, the bulk of the Arab intellectual elite in the Gulf, or whatever stands for an intellectual elite, have lined up along sectarian fault lines. Free, perhaps imperfect, elections in Iraq, the freest in Arab history, are dismissed with calls for more 'sharing' of power. The demands are for more sharing of power, but only in Iraq. Perhaps there can be more 'sharing of power' along the shores of the Gulf and the Red Sea as well. Perhaps there should be more equitable sharing of power in Lebanon as well.

Speaking of sharing, the The Society for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the powerful para-military, well sort of para-something, Islamic religious police of Saudi Arabia is cracking down again on Valentine's Day. Their bearded, dour, visages can be seen in the markets, malls, restaurants, and wherever sweet and colrful things are sold, making sure there are no pink, red, white or black hearts, no signs of celebration. Do these Mutawwa'een religious police know about Saint Valentine? That should make them redouble their efforts.
And wasn't that old King Abdullah himself in the midst of a  love-fest in Mecca the other day? Weren't those pink and red roses at the kingly conference in Mecca that sealed the Palestinian accord to share the cake of power and aid money between Hamas and Fatah last week? It looked like the Saudi royals and the Palestinian neo-potentates were celebrating Valentine's Day early, and in Mecca of all places......there were even the obligatory, albeit insincere, kisses on each other's cheeks.