Shiite pilgrims shot dead

[Robbien]

From correspondents in Baghdad

August 19, 2006 03:36am
Article from: Agence France-Presse

GUNMEN shot dead seven Shiite pilgrims as they passed through a Sunni neighourhood of Baghdad overnight as Iraq braced for a tense weekend of religious ceremony, an interior ministry official said.

The shooting in the al-Adel district came shortly after a suicide bomb attack on a Shiite mosque killed a worshipper there and will increase fears of violence ahead of Sunday's anniversary of the death of the Imam Musa Kadhim.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,20179831-5005962,00.html

Appears this shutdown is doing very little good:

Baghdad streets emptied for gathering

12:39 PM CDT on Friday, August 18, 2006

Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi authorities ordered all vehicles off the streets in much of the capital Friday in an effort to avoid car bombings during a Shiite religious gathering.

Beginning Friday night, all private vehicles would be banned for the next two days in about 16 Baghdad neighborhoods to forestall violence during a mass rally commemorating the death of an 8th century Shiite saint, Imam Moussa Kadhim.

A government statement said the ban would run until 6 a.m. Monday. The ceremony, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of Shiites from across the country, reaches its high point Sunday.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/iraq/topstories/081806ccjccwIraqStreets.108a5da2.html

[LaurenG]

1. Wow democracy is on the march and all that

:sarcasm:

[acmavm]

2. The Iraqis don't seem to be getting the hang of letting all that

freedom reign, do they?

[erik-the-red]

3. It's not like Yugoslavia

I seem to remember (ie. I can't cite any sources) that some of the leading neoconservatives, including Paul Wolfowitz, said that Iraq was not like Bosnia. That is, there weren't any dormant or pre-existing problems with group identities.

Hmm...I guess they were wrong.

[Barrett808]

4. Welcome to DU, erik!

:hi:

[erik-the-red]

7. Thank you very much

:toast:

[MnFats]

5. it wasn't until he was on the verge of war that someone finally told Bush

...that the U.S. would contend with three major forces in Iraq....Sunni, Shiia and Kurd.
he had no f'n clue. Perhaps now he 'gets it.' Nah, that's not possible.

and yeah, welcome Eric! enjoy!

[erik-the-red]

8. Sad thing

I have a very cursory knowledge of Yugoslavia post-Tito. From one book, I inferred that the leadership of Marshall Tito was a reason for the lack of ethnic strife. The combination of his policies and his death led to the dissolution and the subsequent civil war.

Certainly there was unrest and even some attempted rebellions by ethnic groups during Saddam. Yet, he basically kept his country under control, a parallel with Titoist Yugoslavia. That is not happening now.

Thanks for the welcome!

[951-Riverside]

6. Wow its just like Los Angeles at night

I feel sorry for people who work for bestbuy or mcdonalds in those areas.

[hermetic]

9. Ya know, that's a good point

Minneapolis, 4 shot last night. Hmmmmm....

[SOS]

10. The Baghdad homicide rate is 2000 times that of LA County.

LA County = 35 killed per month
Baghdad = 3,500 killed per month.

LA County, 10 million residents
Baghdad, 5 million residents.

For every homicide in LA County there are 2,000 in Baghdad.