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“A joy for all who see”
"A joy for all who see" is the original name of the city Samarra.
But now, this beautiful and historic mosque in Samarra is a ruin. Whoever wanted to sow more sectarian strife in Iraq certainly picked the right target and time. The violence is growing by the hour.
Raed says, whoever planed this, will not succeed. Riverbend is just very afraid and Christopher Allbritton thinks the situation will get worse now.
The Shia will need to vent somewhere. If their leaders are smart and really want to prevent a civil war, they will direct the outrage to the only other available group – the occupation force.
Even if the U.S. might not be directly responsible for this, without its war of aggression on Iraq, the mosque would still be as pretty as it was. That logic will not escape anyone.
The political influence of the United States in the Middle East is getting less by the day. Rice, trying to isolate Hamas, has just been snubbed in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
But now she is off to Lebanon to get pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud removed from office. If she succeeds, a new Lebanese civil war will start. Now that would be a great success.
To support Rice’s standing during her visit in the Arab world, Israel bulldozed a new public park and playground in the West Bank. You see, there was no Israeli building permit.
A fun detail: US AID had payed for the project.
I wonder who payed the bulldozer.
I’m spewing trying to argue semantics, anything rather than look at the mindless slaughter the ‘hammer’ has wrought on the people of Iraq.
The first sign of potential trouble came Monday :
US envoy warns against sectarian Iraqi government
“BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The American ambassador to Iraq issued a tough warning to Iraqi leaders on Monday, saying Washington would not tolerate sectarianism or militias in the new government and its security forces.
“The ministers of interior, defense, national intelligence, the national security adviser have to be people who are non- sectarian, broadly acceptable, non-militia-related that will work for all Iraqis,” Zalmay Khalilzad told a news conference.
“The United States is investing billions of dollars into these forces, military and police forces of Iraq. American taxpayers expect their money to be spent properly. We are not going to invest the resources of the American people into forces run by people who are sectarian…”
Iraqi leaders have yet to start serious talks on forming a new government more than two months after parliamentary elections, and negotiations filled with sectarian landmines could last months.
Some of the most explosive arguments will be about control of the currently Shi’ite-run Interior Ministry, accused by Arab Sunnis of sanctioning death squads linked to a party in the Shi’ite alliance which will have the biggest bloc in parliament. The ministry denies the charges.
The timing of the departure of U.S. troops hinges on the performance of Iraqi security forces and army against Sunni insurgents.
So far few units are capable of protecting themselves — let alone other Iraqis — from guerrilla bombings and shootings that have killed many thousands of people.
Militias tied to the main political parties who Iraqis say act with impunity have undermined the credibility of security forces and exacerbated sectarian tensions.
By Monday afternoon, the interior Ministry released this:
Suicide bomber on Baghdad bus kills at least 12
“BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide bomber strapped with explosives blew himself up on a bus in central Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 12 people, Interior Ministry sources said.
The attack in the mostly Shi’ite Muslim Kadhimiya district wounded at least nine people, the sources said.
The explosion followed a relative lull in bombings over the past few weeks
That was soon to pale into insignificance with this:
Iraqi blast damages Shia shrine
A bomb attack in Iraq has badly damaged one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, sparking furious protests.
Thousands of Iraqis have gathered at the al-Askari shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad, where two men blew up the famous golden dome in a dawn raid.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual head of Iraq’s Shia Muslims, has called for a week of mourning.
Shias in Baghdad attacked at least five Sunni mosques in reprisal raids, with disturbances reported in other cities.
The BBC’s Jon Brain in Baghdad says the attack was almost certainly designed to raise the existing tensions between the majority Shia and minority Sunni populations.
Shias distraught
The shrine is one of two tombs in Samarra for revered Shia imams, which attract pilgrims from around the world.
It was attacked one day after at least 22 people died when a car bomb exploded in a market in a Shia neighbourhood of southern Baghdad.
After that it was game on:
There was slaughter in the streets:
The death toll from violence sparked by the bombing of a Shia shrine in Samarra rose to at least 78 today, heightening fears that Iraq is sliding towards civil war.
Police and military sources said most of the dead were Sunnis, killed in the 24 hours since the attack that destroyed the golden dome on the al-Askari shrine, one of Shia Islam’s most revered sites.”…..
…..”Nearly 50 people were pulled from buses and shot dead in the Nahrawan area, south-east of Baghdad. Their bodies were later found behind a brick factory.
Sixteen people were killed, including eight civilians, and 21 injured when a bomb aimed at an army foot patrol exploded in a busy market in Baquba, north-east of Baghdad.
Earlier one person was killed and two injured when gunmen opened fire on a Sunni mosque in the town.
Iraqi police also reported finding some 50 bodies – many with bound hands – at sites around Baghdad, but it was not immediately clear if this figure included the 40 recovered in Nahrawan.”…..
Redefinition of Iraqi ‘Freedom of Speech’:
“A prominent al-Arabiya TV reporter and two of her crew, who had gone to cover the attack on the shrine, were killed near Samarra on Thursday morning. Correspondent Atwar Bahjat’s body was among the three found about 15km (10 miles) north of the city.
Elsewhere, at least 12 people died in a bomb attack on an Iraqi army patrol while one person died in a gun attack on a Sunni mosque in the town of Baquba. “….
and a Proposal to end prison overcrowding:
“In Basra, which is predominantly Shia, men dressed in police uniform took 11 Sunni prisoners from a prison. They were later found dead at various sites in the of the city. Officials put the overall death toll in Basra at 25.”
Did it all begin as a play by Shia elements to show Sunni couldn’t be trusted with Govt, a Sunni inspired punctuation of Zalmay Khalilzad’s point, or, a typical Imperialist take with one hand while you give with the other ploy?
At least 78 people are dead, we do know that. People who would still be living breathing entities if the leadership of the US made the people of the US understand that they should pay for everything same as the rest of the world does now.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Feb 23 2006 16:19 utc | 7
Yeah I had noticed over the last 24 hours news reports were starting to say the bombers had uniforms on without specifying which they were.
The ‘interior ministry’ lynchers were pretty obvious from the start. I mean we’re meant to believe that somehow terrorists got inside the jail and instead of freeing everyone lynched them?
But most of all the timing. If the reprisals began “within minutes” it would be fair to say that smacks of collusion. How sad. It is a typical Imperialist take with one hand while you give with the other ploy.
This is one Reichstag fire that will never come out in the US since everybody is far more concerned with which particular faceless corporate asshole runs their ports.
It does mean things are getting desperate though. The US has elected to keep the insurgency going rather than try and meet the disparate needs of the rising Shia politicians versus the more established Sunni power structure.
Keeping this on track will require the presence of more foreign troops not less so the recycling of the US national guard etc should continue for quite a while yet.
I guess they are hoping that now some of the Sunni leadership have been forced to the surface, that they can make it a more ‘conventional war’ but since no one wants to give a inch a much more likely outcome is for that leadership to be sacrificed ASAP lest their connections be unravelled.
The unofficial ceasfire appears to have led to a complacency that could backfire badly.
Take Nigeria which has a very powerful and organised state repression apparatus. Yesterday this story made the low level interest pages. Low level because ostensibly it’s about those cartoons. Remember them. Ancient news at least two weeks old. But this isn’t about cartoons this is really about the divide and rule colonial strategy coming home to roost. Note that a certain John Negroponte has something to say on the issue:
Five days of violence by Nigerian Christians and Muslims kill 150
By Christian Allen Purefoy in Lagos
Published: 24 February 2006
Clashes between Nigeria’s Muslim and Christian communities have left nearly 150 people dead and thousands displaced after five days of violence sparked originally by the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohamed.
In the southern city of Onitsha, where the worst of the killing took place, Christians yesterday burnt the corpses of their victims and defaced mosques in revenge for attacks on Christians in the north of the country earlier this week.
As several bodies burnt on pyres of flaming tyres and the stench of charred flesh filled the air, police began to clear away the dead lying at the sides of Onitsha’s dirt roads.”…..
…..”Last Saturday, violence broke out in Maiduguri, northern Nigeria, leaving at least 15 Christians dead and 11 churches in flames. The riots were led by Muslims furious at the cartoons, published in Danish and other European newspapers. More than 100 people were arrested and the army was called in to help the police. In revenge, on Tuesday morning, riots broke out against the Muslim population in the Christian city of Onitsha.”…..
…..”With their mosques and businesses burnt, more than 3,000 Muslim men, women and children have overwhelmed the local barracks, police stations and mosques seeking protection. The Red Cross reports more than 100 people dead in Onitsha “so far”, and says it has treated about 70 injured.”….. ”
…..”Nigerian analysts believe much of the violence is fuelled by political tensions concerning national elections in 2007. “This type of protest has a political undertone,” said Mr Umeh.
The country is rife with rumour that President Olusegun Obasanjo may try to change the constitution and seek a third term, while others seek to use violence to further their political influence and position in the forthcoming elections. “Speculation that President Obasanjo will try to change the constitution so he can seek a third term is raising political tension and if proven true, threatens to unleash major turmoil and conflict,” John Negroponte, the US intelligence chief, said this month.
“Such chaos in Nigeria could lead to disruption of oil supply, secessionist moves by regional governments and instability elsewhere in Africa,” he added.”…..
…..”Some in Onitsha have set deadlines for the Hausa community to leave. The city’s deputy police commissioner, Haz Iwendi, said: “The various state governors are meeting to ensure that this does not snowball.”…..
What is Negroponte doing around this? Take a look at the last coupla pars where it seems some sort of ‘death squads’ are chasing Muslims outta the South. Hey the South isn’t that where the oil is? Yep. It is getting increasingly difficult to get the oil out:
US demands release of abducted Nigeria oil workers
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States called for the unconditional release of three American oil workers abducted in Nigeria on Saturday and said it was working with Nigeria’s government to try to secure their freedom.
Militants seeking more local control over the vast oil wealth of the Niger Delta region stormed an offshore barge operated by U.S. oil services company Willbros in pre-dawn attacks and abducted nine workers — three Americans, one Briton, two Thais, two Egyptians and a Filipino.
“We can now confirm reports that three American oil workers have been taken hostage in Nigeria. We call for their unconditional release and are working with the Nigerian government on this,” said State Department official Noel Clay.”…..
…..”The abduction was one of a string of attacks in the world’s eighth largest oil exporter. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta also bombed a major oil export platform and sabotaged two pipelines.”
If I was really paranoid I would also tie the alleged attempted coup in the Philippines to the chaos:
MANILA (Reuters) – President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared emergency rule in the Philippines on Friday after the military said it foiled a coup attempt, but analysts criticized the move as unwarranted and potentially damaging to the economy.
Police used fire hoses and batons to disperse 5,000 protesters, including nuns and priests, and arrested three of their leaders near a shrine that was a focal point of a 1986 revolt against dictator Ferdinand Marcos and another in 2001 that ousted Joseph Estrada as president.”….
….”Talk of plots against Arroyo, who survived a crisis last year over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption, has been running high around this week’s anniversary of the 1986 “people power” revolution.
Military commanders and Arroyo’s allies expressed support for her decision but Gilbert Remulla, an opposition leader in Congress, said the government was “creating chaos and confusion”.”….
I mean clearly she is just as corrupt as any other ‘leaders’ filipinos have been forced to suffer, however the situation on Mindanao* has calmed somewhat during her reign. Not very good if there is a world-wide move to make xtians the cannon-fodder in an attempt to wrestle control of resources outta the hands of the traditional owners and into the hands of the usual suspects.
*Mindanao
“Containing about 80% of the country’s iron reserves, Mindanao is one of the richest islands in the Philippines.”
Once again populations of the not over-developed world who lack any resource wealth, thank their lucky stars for not being cursed with oil, gold, iron, uranium etc.
Posted by: Debs is dead | Feb 24 2006 20:42 utc | 33
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