Last time the Al Askariya mosque in Samarra, Iraq was bombed, all hell broke loose. It happened again today. Hopefully this time both Shia and Sunni can work together to decry the imbecility of al Qaeda for perpetrating yet another in a long series of senseless attacks.
I was still in Iraq in February, 2006 when the al Askariya Mosque in Samarra was significantly damaged by bombing. The relative improvement in stability in Iraq up to that point was shattered by the sectarian hatred and violence that ensued. Deaths--civilian and military--which had been going down, suddenly went back up.
Today, 16, months later, it was attacked again. It appears that the damage was greater this time. However, so far there is guarded optimism that it will not incite the same bloodthirst that the 2006 attack did. Requests have been made for American troops to return to Samarra to help provide greater security.
[The Iraqi government] directly accused al-Qa'eda of efforts to "burn Iraq with the fire of sectarian strife" and added: "We call upon our Iraqi people to exercise self-restraint and not be dragged into reactions like those planned by the killers."
In his typically Jesse-Jackson-like way, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the bombings on the Bush Administration.
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, blamed America's continued presence in Iraq for the bombings.
It's just too, much, isn't it, to blame the people who are really responsible?
4 comments:
Frank, Have you ever had to point your finger at yourself? It is hard. :)
I have a hard time saying I'm sorry for some reason, but to admit that I made a mistake or that I was wrong is relatively easy.
But honest to goodness, there are a lot of people out there of various religious and political persuasions that can NOT do it.
Sometimes it has to do with lust for power; sometimes it's just to maintain a perfect track record of "being right".
Yeah Frank. I totally agree. But I was saying it in a more sarcastic sense. Have you ever extended your hand in fron of you and tried to point a finger at yourself? It is pretty hard.
Sending more Americans to Samarra won't solve a thing, any more than more Americans in Baghdad. The Iraq Study Group and practically everybody other than Fred Kagan knows the answer is FEWER American soldiers.
The occupation causes more and more violence and undermines the legitimacy of the so-called Iraqi government.
When Moqtada Sadr and other blame the Americans for what happens to their country, they are right. They will probably blame us for hundreds of years.
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