Iraq Shi'ites see reasons for death squad killings

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IBO961766.htm

Iraq Shi'ites see reasons for death squad killings

BAGHDAD, July 10 (Reuters) - While condemning in public the sectarian death squads that gunned down 40 people on Sunday in a Sunni part of Baghdad, some Iraqi Shi'ite leaders say in private retaliation for Sunni insurgent bomb attacks is understandable.

The bloodiest such violence yet in the capital has rekindled fears of all-out civil war and posed serious questions over Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ability to keep a promise to curb violence by fellow Shi'ites.

Shi'ite leaders, talking privately on Monday, spoke with resignation, saying more bloodshed is inevitable in Iraq's culture of vendetta and that clerical restraint on Shi'ites is flagging in the face of repeated Sunni bombings.

...

"It is very, very difficult for us to justify why we are not taking revenge," said a senior Shi'ite figure linked to one of the most powerful militia groups, saying that his movement was not carrying out killings but could understand those who were.

[KKKarl is an idiot]

1. Civil war?

Sounds like civil war to me. The Shiites are going to retaliate. They have taken a lot over the last few months. Some of their most holiest sites have been destroyed. Amazing this did not happen under Saddam's rule.

The found fathers created a constitution that was different from anything else seen prior to it. But they did it themselves. No foreign government came in & instituted elections & tried to force democracy down their throats. Democracy requires a change in mindset. It cannot be done by the ousting of a government by a foreign government that does not understand the mindset of the people who live in that nation. It is for that nation to decide this for themselves.

[Kagemusha]

3. How did it not happen under Saddam's rule.

He damaged some holy sites in putting down a Shiite rebellion, that the elder George Bush called for. He was really hated for it too. But he put it down and won - for a while.

[Ravenseye]

4. Because he was a tyrant

When the Shiites would rise before he'd send the Republican Guard in with tanks and they'd obliterate entire villages. Roll through towns killing anyone they saw. Anyone even hinted at involvement woud be collected for 'questioning' and at the very least held for weeks and tortured before returning.

He had more than 5 times as many troops as we have on the ground there who were fanatically loyal to him, or at least they were as long as they kept getting paid, and their families were safe and being well fed and supplied with medicines, etc.

He had control. He used his power. That's how he put them down.

[Kagemusha]

9. So the Shiites are revolting again, just against the US this time.

Gee, no one saw that one coming...

[KurtNYC]

5. this is exactly what I would expect civil war to look like in a theocracy

Shiite versus Sunni.

[kurth]

7. "My Islam is better than your Islam"

And it's been like that since Mohammed.

[acmavm]

10. No, since the death of his son in law Ali.

[bdamomma]

12. so in a way isn't bush doing the same thing

too, my christian religion is better than your islamic religion. but then again, bush has so many other factors for being out there, can't forget about the oil.

[gratuitous]

2. Death squads, militia groups

Gee, I sure hope someone from the administration comes out real soon to explain how this isn't civil war in Iraq. Maybe because Ken Burns isn't there to film it with treacly Stephen Foster music playing in the background while Shelby Foote intones monotonous letters to My Dearest Wife?

Because it sure as hell looks like a civil war right now.

[kurth]

8. Way past time to get the fuck out

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. Negroponte. nt

[gratuitous]

11. He does have his blood-stained fingers in a lot of things

Odd how wherever that guy goes, blood flows in the streets. Astonishing to me that he still finds work . . . at least when the Republicans are running things.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. Wherever he is...there are "Death Squads."

That's pretty solid evidence. Or it's a solid "co-incidence."

What does :shrug: it take?