The ember of governance - the Shiites of Iraq and the travails of building the state and nation after 2003

The symbolic fall of the dictator''s statue on April 9, 2003 constituted a defining moment in the history of Iraq, and the Shiites in it in particular, as it signaled the opening of endless questions about the nature of the image of the regime and the position of Shiite Iraqis towards it. While the Shiites lived, forced or willing, under a doctrine and history of rejection and distancing themselve...