"Shrine Attack Brings Civil War Warning"

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By ZIAD KHALAF, Associated Press Writer 32 minutes ago

SAMARRA, Iraq - Insurgents detonated bombs inside one of Iraq's holiest Shiite shrines Wednesday, destroying its golden dome and triggering more than 60 reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques. The president warned that extremists were pushing the country toward civil war, as many Shiites lashed out at the United States as partly to blame.

As the gold dome of the 1,200-year-old Askariya shrine lay in ruins, leaders on both sides called for calm: But the string of back-and-forth attacks seemed to push the country 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."

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the top American commander in Iraq also warned it was a "critical moment for Iraq" and called the bombings a deliberate attempt to create sectarian tension. They promised the U.S. would contribute to the shrine's reconstruction.

"This attack is a crime against humanity," Khalilzad and Gen. George W. Casey Jr., said in a joint statement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060222/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=ApErYvQF8UV0XG6Bg84frQ.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

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And from Juan Cole -

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Iran Blames Bush
Sunni Shiite Clashes

Shiites came out in the thousands all over the Shiite south on Wednesday to protest the bombing of the Askariiyah shrine in Samarra. A Sunni mosque was set afire. and a Sunni clergyman was assassinated.

The hardline Shiite Mahdi Army has come out of Sadr City and is all over Baghdad. They are clashing with Sunnis in Basra.

Sunni leader Tariq al- Hashimi threatened reprisals for reprisal killings.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim blamed the US for holding back the Badr Corps.

Grand Ayatollah Sistani called for nonviolent street protests that he must know won't be nonviolent.

Iran is blaming Bush.

http://www.juancole.com/

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1. Other threads:

The Holy Shrine Askariyah in Samarra is Destroyed. Before and After Photo

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x488840


Pakistani Shi'ite Muslim Clerics Are Blaming the US for Mosque Bombing

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x491141


Tuesday was an apocalyptic day in Iraq - Juan Cole

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x488940


Major shrine in Samarra damaged by large explosion

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2124083


Sectarian violence sweeps across Iraq (29 mosques attacked)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2124759


The attack on the "Golden Mosque" officially begins the Iraq Civil War.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=490592

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4. Al-Askariya shrine: 'Not just a major cathedral'

"Today's attack on al-Askariya shrine marks the first time that Iraqi sectarian violence has targeted one of the country's central religious symbols.

The Shia Muslim shrine has existed in the middle of the ancient city of Samarra, one of the largest archaeological sites in the world, since 944, when it was built to house the tombs of two ninth century imams, direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.

Ali al-Hadi, the tenth imam who died in 868 and his son Hassan al-Askari who died in 874, were buried at the end of the turbulent period during which Samarra was built as the new capital of the Abbasid empire, briefly taking over from Baghdad, then the largest city in the world.

But the continued and intense religious importance of the site is connected to the 12th imam, the so-called "Hidden Imam" who Shias believe went into hiding in 878 under the al-Askariya shrine to prepare for his eventual return among men.

According to Shia tradition, the Mahdi will reappear one day to punish the sinful and "separate truth from falsehood". For many years, a saddled horse and soldiers would be brought to the shrine in Samarra every day to be ready for his return, a ritual that was repeated in Hilla, about 100 miles to the south, where it was also thought that Mahdi might reappear.

"It's one of the foremost important shrines in Iraq," said Alastair Northedge, a Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the Sorbonne in Paris who has just completed an archaeological survey of Samarra..."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-2053168,00.html

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8. Samarra: Shia pilgrimage centre

"The golden dome dominates the Samarra skyline
Over the centuries, the central Iraqi city of Samarra has attracted millions of Shia pilgrims from all over the Muslim world.
They travel to the city to worship at the sacred tombs of Ali al-Hadi and al-Hasan al-Askari, the 10th and 11th Shia Imams, and the site where the 12th Imam, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared.

Imam al-Mahdi, known as the "hidden Imam", was the son and grandson of the two previous imams, and Shias pray at the mosque for his return.

Shia Islam was led by imams, believed to be divinely appointed from the Prophet Muhammad's family, until the late 9th Century.

Sacred

Al-Hadi, the 10th Shia Imam, was born in Medina in modern-day Saudi Arabia in 827. He became Imam at the age of six.

In 848, he and his son were brought to Samarra, then the capital of the Abbasid Empire and placed under house arrest by the Caliph al-Mutawakkil.

It is believed Imam al-Hadi was poisoned in 868, and buried in a house near the original mosque of al-Mutasim.

Al-Askari succeeded his father as imam, but remained under house arrest until his death in 874. He was buried beside his father in what was later to become the al-Askari shrine...."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4739444.stm

[SpiralHawk]

9. Appointment in Samarra

Black ops

I cannot help but think that, so cynical have I become in the face of so damn many instances of BushCo & Cronies massive malfeasance at home and abroad

I suspect BushCo

I feel I would be naive not to suspect BushCo

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11. yep - I don't see this as something a Muslim would do.

Neither would an artist. Or anyone who had a clue about culture.

[leftchick]

12. I have not doubt

the same sorts of black ops that were used in the Vietnam war are applied here including targeted assasinations. I remember Noam Chomsky warning about this several months before we even invaded Iraq.

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13. more threads:

Look at what we are destroying

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=492792&mesg_id=492792


75 Sunni mosques attacked today. SEVENTY-FIVE!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=492736&mesg_id=492736


Shiite leader cites U.S. in shrine blast

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2124584&mesg_id=2124584


Shrine bombing reprisals now number more than 90

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x493122

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Paul Revere held up that warning a while ago

and his name was John Murtha.

[KharmaTrain]

3. And The Corporate Media Sleeps

Imagine if people woke up this morning and that was St. Peters or St. Pauls dome that had been blown to bits? I'm still trying to sort out the ramifications of this, but it's be assured nothing keeps a war going hotter and longer than the destruction of a major religious shrine. The lines have been drawn greatly sharper between the Sunnis and Shiites and our troops are sitting inbetween.

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5. I think they are going to have to wake up. n/t

[KharmaTrain]

6. Tet Style...n/t

[BeyondThePale]

7. As the Ramones sang, "We're a happy family, we're a happy family..."

[SpiralHawk]

10. Attacks on 29 Mosques + 12 or more USA churches = Ideological Insanity

Islamofascism Vs Christofacism:

Get your Jihad/Crusade on

Not