US forces surround Iraq's AMS (Assoc. of Muslim Scholars) office

[leftchick]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B5EE0C6A-631B-4B02-B44E-19CA0E51BD2C.htm


<snip>
US occupation forces have encircled the mosque housing the office of the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), Iraq's highest Sunni authority, in Baghdad.


<snip>

Al-Samarai said he had no doubts the US forces had "bad intentions" and pre-scheduled plans.


<snip>

"They know that Um al-Qura mosque only hosts the AMS which always calls on people to be reasonable and not escalate the situation," he said.


"But at the same time, the AMS rejects the occupation and encourages Iraqis who want to overthrow it," he said. "The AMS is the most-influential Sunni authority in Iraq.

[Cooley Hurd]

1. Is there ANY Muslim group in Iraq that we DON'T wish to piss off?

:shrug:

...and NOTHING about the situation in Najaf on CNN this morning, either???

[Junkdrawer]

2. Well, seeing as they threatened to kill journalists who didn't leave...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=753325&mesg_id=753325

[bemildred]

3. Perhaps you would like to know why this was done:

The main Sunni Muslim religious organization, the Association of Muslim Scholars, has
issued a fatwa, or instruction, prohibiting all Sunnis in the interim government?s military and
police forces from assisting the US military in the attack on Sadr?s movement. Fighting is
once again flaring in the Fallujah area.

And then you can contemplate the sheer boneheaded moranism of the
folks who are leading our little boondoggle in Iraq. I would wager
the US part of the leadership has only the foggiest idea even as
to who and what the AMS is ...

[IndianaGreen]

4. That fatwa was in response to a similar Shia fatwa

that was issued in support of the Suni Muslims in Fallujah.

[bemildred]

7. Yeh. People coming together to resist tyranny.

Whoda thunk it?

But I find it amusing that they think they can intimidate
the AMS with a few HumVees, or that it is a smart thing to do,
or ...

There was the Col. from Faloojah going down to an Najaf to help
train the Mahdi folks in tactics too. An excellent story that,
if you want to know what is going on.

[bemildred]

8. It is the knee-jerk resort to intimidation and violence

that strikes me, a clear sign of moral and mental bankruptcy.

[skip fox]

5. Hey, we're uniting Iraq!

Who woulda thought?

[IndianaGreen]

6. Bush is the great uniter!

Who would have guessed how he would unite the world against the US?