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Iraq
Iraqi massacre
2016-11-26
[DAWN] AS the Death Eater Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group gets pounded on the battlefield, it has resorted to a familiar tactic: the mass slaughter of civilians. On Thursday, around 100 pilgrims returning from Arbaeen -- as Imam Hussain’s chehlum is also known -- in Karbala were killed as a massive truck bomb ploughed into buses in the Iraqi town of Hilla. Most of the victims were reportedly Iranian. Between 17 million and 20 million people had gathered in Iraq over the past few weeks to march to Karbala for Arbaeen. Protecting this mass gathering of humanity was indeed a challenge for the Iraqi forces; around 25,000 troops had been dispatched to Karbala for security. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
while the administration managed to protect the holy city, the hard boyz struck a relatively more vulnerable spot. Some commentators have said the Hilla attack could be a diversionary tactic to take attention away from djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
, where the Iraqis are leading the operation to liberate this key city from IS clutches. The Iranians are playing a major role in assisting Iraqi forces, which is why, in its claim of responsibility, IS boasted it had targeted Iranians. Another major motivation for the attack is, of course, the rabidly sectarian nature of IS. Earlier this year, after the Iraqi government had freed Fallujah from IS’s grip, the terrorist outfit carried out a devastating bombing targeting a market in Baghdad’s Karrada area. Over 340 people were killed in that atrocity in July.

For Iraq to turn the page on it recent blood-soaked history, it is essential to ensure that IS does not have any space to operate from in the country. In order to prevent more horrific loss of life, the Mosul operation must be taken to a successful conclusion; the administration must remain on guard as IS has pledged to carry out more attacks on Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf. In the aftermath of the Hilla tragedy, Iranian President Rouhani has called for an "all-out fight" against terrorism. Indeed, this is a call that all countries in the region should support. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
for such a fight to be successful, the Syrian quagmire needs to be resolved, as it has become a magnet for hard boy fighters. Naive as it may sound in this world of cunning geopolitics, regional countries as well as global powers must put aside their political differences and concentrate on the defeat of IS for the security of the entire region.

Posted by:Fred

#5  In Karbala ripen in autumn
The blood-nourished apples of Sodom.
They're not too nutritious
And taste pretty vicious,
But better not waste 'em -- we bought 'em.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220   2016-11-26 11:35  

#4  enough to make one consider that whole deal about going after families

Apparently bulldozing their apartments isn't sufficient.
Posted by: Skidmark   2016-11-26 10:48  

#3  ISIS sure is enough to make one consider that whole deal about going after families. ISIS needs to be exterminated and that may be the only way to be sure.
Posted by: Injun Bucket8891   2016-11-26 10:36  

#2  Whatever all that blood is nourishing, it sure ain't Jefferson's "tree of liberty..."
Posted by: M. Murcek   2016-11-26 08:31  

#1  It's their culture. What right do we westerners have to interfere and try to impose our norms on these people?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2016-11-26 03:20  

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