I'm trying to get the facts on this, it's my current pet peeve, lol!
Here's what I gots:
The constantly-cited "60-20" Shia majority is from the "CIA Fact Book", from 1992. The CIA didn't actually ever do a census so I assume that was their "best guesstimate" or it was propaganda because chanting about overthrowing the MAJORITY regime wouldn't get the US very far:
"Observers said the contrasted Shiite and Sunnis statistics could have been politically motivated, as the U.S. occupation forces seeking to marginalize the role of Sunnis – now launching almost-daily resistance attacks that killed hundreds of American soldiers." Some Iraqis say the claim that Shia were the majority first came from Jewish writer Hanna Batto.
The Shia & the Sunni both agree Iraq is a Sunni majority of 50-ish% Sunni and 40-ish% Shia;
"the number of Shiites, I think, is averaged at 40 or 45 percent of the whole population against 53 percent of Sunnis," the Shiite Mohamed Jawwad Ali told Quds Press news agency.
"Shiite scholars conceded that Shiites could make up as much as 40 percent of the whole population." In 2003, an international humanitarian organization did a census, and they too found a Sunni majority;
"Fresh statistics by an international organization suggested that Iraq's Sunnis are in a clear majority...
The statistics, released by a reliable international humanitarian relief agency in 2003, suggested that Sunnis make up 58 percent of the Iraqi population and Shiites 40 percent."*******
Sites w link to the above info:
http://occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=2784http://uruknet.web.at.it/colonna-centrale-pagina.php?p=1028&colonna=mhttp://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-01/29/article02.shtmlhttp://www.searchingjenin.com/wire.php?category=International&page=15So I'm trying to find more info; which "international humanitarian org" did the census? Are there any more articles floating around backing up the various Shia & Sunni academicians quoted in 2003 as saying Sunni are in fact the majority?
If anyone has a better search engine (or search ability than me, which means most of you :D) or comes across any such referances to this issue, would you please please please help me feed my pet peeve!
TIA! :)