Mosque Attack Pushes Iraq Toward Civil War http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060222/D8FUDN9O7.html Insurgents detonated bombs inside one of Iraq's holiest Shiite shrines Wednesday, destroying its golden dome and triggering more than 90 reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques. The president warned that extremists were pushing the country toward civil war. With the gleaming dome of the 1,200-year-old Askariya shrine reduced to rubble, leaders on both sides called for calm and many Shiites lashed out at the United States as partly to blame. But the string of back-and-forth attacks seemed to push Iraq closer to all-out civil war than at any point in the three years since the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein. "We are facing a major conspiracy that is targeting Iraq's unity," said President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. "We should all stand hand in hand to prevent the danger of a civil war." President Bush pledged American help to restore the mosque after the bombing north of Baghdad, which dealt a severe blow to U.S. efforts to keep Iraq from falling deeper into sectarian violence. "The terrorists in Iraq have again proven that they are enemies of all faiths and of all humanity," Bush said. "The world must stand united against them, and steadfast behind the people of Iraq." British Prime Minister Tony Blair also condemned the bombing and pledged funds toward the shrine's reconstruction. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the top American commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, called the attack a deliberate attempt to foment sectarian strife and warned it was a "critical moment for Iraq." No one was reported injured in the bombing of the shrine in Samarra. But at least 18 people, including three Sunni clerics, were killed in the reprisal attacks that followed, mainly in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite provinces to the south, according to the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni political group. Major Sunni groups joined in condeming the attack, and a leading Sunni politician, Tariq al-Hashimi, urged clerics and politicians to calm the situation "before it spins out of control." The country's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, sent instructions to his followers forbidding attacks on Sunni mosques, and called for seven days of mourning. But he hinted, as did Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, that religious militias could be given a bigger security role if the government cannot protecting holy shrines - an ominous sign of the Shiite reaction ahead. Both Sunnis and the United States fear the rise of such militias, which the disaffected minority views as little more than death squads. American commanders believe they undercut efforts to create a professional Iraqi army and police force - a key step toward the eventual drawdown of U.S. forces. Some Shiite political leaders already were angry with the United States because it has urged them to form a government in which nonsectarian figures control the army and police. Khalilzad warned this week - in a statement clearly aimed at Shiite hard-liners - that America would not continue to support institutions run by sectarian groups with links to armed militias. One top Shiite political leader accused Khalilzad of sharing blame for the attack on the shrine in Samarra. "These statements ... gave green lights to terrorist groups. And, therefore, he shares in part of the responsibility," said Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the former commander of its militia. The interior minister, who controls the security forces that Sunnis accuse of widepsread abuses, is a member of al-Hakim's party. The new tensions came as Iraq's various factions have been struggling to assemble a government after the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. The Shiite fury sparked by Wednesday's bombings - the third major attack against Shiite targets in as many days - raised the likelihood that Shiite religious parties will reject U.S. demands to curb militias. The Askariya shrine, also known as the Golden Mosque, contains the tombs of two revered Shiite imams, who are considered by Shiites to be among the successors of the Prophet Muhammad. No group claimed responsibility for the 6:55 a.m. assault on the shrine in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, carried out by four insurgents posing as police. But suspicion fell on Sunni extremist groups. The top of the dome, which was completed in 1905, collapsed into a crumbly mess, leaving just traces of gold showing through the rubble. Part of the shrine's tiled northern wall also was damaged. Thousands of demonstrators crowded near the wrecked shrine, and Iraqis picked through the debris, pulling out artifacts and copies of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, which they waved, along with Iraqi flags. "This criminal act aims at igniting civil strife," said Mahmoud al-Samarie, a 28-year-old builder. "We demand an investigation so that the criminals who did this be punished. If the government fails to do so, then we will take up arms and chase the people behind this attack." U.S. and Iraqi forces surrounded the Samarra shrine and searched nearby houses. About 500 soldiers were sent to Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad to prevent clashes. National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said 10 people were detained for questioning about the bombing. The Interior Ministry put the number at nine and said they included five guards. In the hours after the attack, more than 90 Sunni mosques were attacked with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, burned or taken over by Shiites, the Iraqi Islamic Party said. Large protests erupted in Shiite parts of Baghdad and in cities throughout the Shiite heartland to the south. In Basra, Shiite militants traded rifle and rocket-propelled grenade fire with guards at the office of the Iraqi Islamic Party. Smoke billowed from the building. Shiite protesters later set fire to a Sunni shrine containing the seventh century tomb of Talha bin Obeid-Allah, a companion of Muhammad, on the outskirts of Basra. Police found 11 bodies of Sunni Muslims, most shot in the head and including two Egyptians, in Basra, police Capt. Mushtaq Kadhim said. Protesters in Najaf, Kut and Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City also marched through the streets by the thousands, many shouting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans and burning those nations' flags.
Well, it's nothing unexpected here. The first mistake was our government assuming every state is like ours. Iraq, unlike the USA, is a stratified state with little to no crossover. In fact, only a strong authoritarian government has a prayer of controlling that state in its present form. Unfortunately, they have adopted a government style, which looks to represent the French government. This most likely won't work. Their best shot at democracy is to model it after Germany, where there's proportional representation. They need to pass a good deal of power down to the local levels of government. I certainly hope our troops are not going to be there until there's peace in Iraq. That will be at least a decade away, if not longer. The older people in the state are going to be the most opposed to change.
I think they new exactly what was going to happen, it was no mistake made by them. The only mistake was the citizens of the USA letting them do this.
You need to raise your income tax up to 50% and spend 50% of the budget on the war on terrorism(Afganistan, Iraq, Iran). Build a lots of oil pipes there would also do good.
We helped the Iraqis and Iranians kill each other for over a decade. Now we'll be helping Iraqis kill Iraqis for the next ten years.
It's really a catch-22. If we leave, the state collapses and now we look worse for it. While the attacking Iraq was looked down upon to begin with, creating an unstable state as the result of that action will have serious political consequences. Our best bet is to begin moving troops out and into one concentrated area, where the government is functioning. We need to work hard to train as many Iraqis as possible and try to at least stabilize the capital city. We could narrow our presence down to 10-20k troops within a year and concentrate our efforts on peace keeping in the capital and training their soldiers to at least have a shot at keeping order. Finally, once their troops are semi-adequate, we can start the last pull-out. I estimate this will take between 4 and 6 more years. If we pull the plug and create an unstable (and likely to fail) state, it will have serious repercussions for the region and for America. The repercussions could be felt worldwide. Additionally, all our soldiers would have died in vein. Again, the goal is not peace in Iraq. The goal is to simply give the government a fighting chance and let the Iraqi people evolve the state on their own after that point.
That's where you're wrong. We're training them already - and now they've got trained death squads going around killing people. Every Iraqi we train is on one side or the other of this divide. They aren't going to stabilize anything.. they're going to be the ones leading the fights.
What is your source for this (or the other information)? Also, there's not a two-sided divide in Iraq. Given the stratification and packism of the state, it's expected that some troops will defect back to their groups. The two main news networks (CNN and Fox) simply dummy down the political information for their viewers. It's all about News McNuggets and sensationalism. To get a real sense of the matter, one if forced to research through multiple channels and most of the public does not have that capability in full (or want to for that matter). Like I said, the situation is very complex and fragile.
Who needs a source, it's common sense. There's 3 main religious groups and 2 are on the brink of destorying each other, the Shiites and the Sunnis. Obviously, most of the Iraqis we train will be of one religion or the other, and will be part of their religions fight. Of course, right now there are people from each religion who want war, and people who want peace. As matters continue on a downward spiral in Iraq, the number who want war will increase, until all hell breaks lose.
Well, the information was largely inaccurate and grossly generalized. That's why I asked. What's common sense to me in the realm of political science might not (and probably is not) common sense to you and vise versa. The people you mention are groups or tribes if you will, not religions. They largely share one religion, Islam. What you have over there is the equivalent of the Catholics, Protestants and Baptist. All three are Christians, but they vary somewhat in the specifics on some issues. Also, there's no "right now" about anything. Iraq is divided into three main groups and they are adamantly opposed to each other. This is nothing new and the only reason why civil war has not happened was due to Saddam having a tight grip on the country and persecuting all opposition. He effectively nullified the two opposing groups (IE using WMD against the Kurds).
Too much oil at stake in Iraq and the surrounding countries (Kuwait, Saudia Arabia, Iran) to risk that an Iraqi civil war will spread if left to go unchecked. Whatever your thoughts on Saddam, it was one thing he did well - contained and suppressed the various factions.
How is that any different than what i just said? This wasn't rocket science, and I fully believe Bush and our Government also knew this, and they knew exactly what would happen when they destroyed the only government and stability Iraq had - Civil War. What's going on over there isn't a suprise, it's a well though out plan of events...
We basically invaded a small sovereign nation that never attacked us. Overthrew their government Installed a government in the image of our own. And the world did nothing about it. Man the term "We rule" applies here If China had done something like this it would have started a new World War!
You forgot to mention how we "liberated" and "freed" all the Iraqi people. And how it's so much better living in Iraq with car bombs, death squads, troops murdering and raping citizens, churches being blown up - than living under Saddam. The rest of the world must envy us right now! [/END SARCASM]