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| Death toll from Ashura Massacre at 182 |
| 2004-03-03 |
| I figure Ashura Massacre’s as a good name as any to call what happened in the last 24 hours. More than 182 people were killed and hundreds wounded in simultaneous bomb attacks in two Iraqi cities on the holiest day of the Shiite Muslim calender, with some blaming US forces for lax security. Messages poured in from around the world condemming the Tuesday attacks, the worst carnage since the fall of former dicator Saddam Hussein. Iraq’s leaders declared three days of mourning and postponed the signing of a temporary constitution, scheduled for Wednesday, possibly to Friday. Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish members of Iraq’s Governing Council pointed the finger at Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, a wanted Jordanian suspected of ties to the Al-Qaeda terror group. "These sick people with guns are seeking to start sectarian strife so they can consolidate their positions," said Adel Abdel Mehdi of the main Shiite party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). "Their aim is to stop Iraqis from winning their sovereignty." US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, who described the attacks as "very sophisticated," said they were closely coordinated by a "transnational organisation" and also named Zarqawi as a prime suspect. The attacks were blamed variously on suicide bombers, rockets or mortars, or, in Karbala, concealed bombs. In Karbala, where hundreds of thousands of Shiites, including Iranians, were taking part in the Ashura mourning ritual, at least 112 people were killed and 235 wounded in several coordinated blasts. A reporter at Karbala’s main hospital saw dozens of bodies piled inside and outside while ambulances and private vehicles streamed in with casualties covered in blood-stained blankets. "I saw a man running into a group of Iranian pilgrims and exploding himself," Karbala police Captain Mahdi Ghanami told a news agency. "The bomb claimed 25 victims." A spokesman for Polish coalition forces, meanwhile, said two suspects were caught as they prepared to fire mortars on the city. In Baghdad, at least 70 people were killed and 321 wounded in coordinated suicide attack on the Kazimyah mosque in a Shiite district in the northwest of the capital. Three suicide bombers detonated explosives and a fourth wearing an explosive vest was apprehended, Kimmitt told reporters. He refused to give the nationality of the suspect. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #11 pardon - i do recall Hamas occasionally using the second boom to get the rescuers trick, but never at the exits to an enclosed place, and not in the context of two booms in one day in seperate cities. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2004-3-3 3:05:56 PM |
| #10 it involved synchronized operations in two different cities, and in Baghdad apparently first one splodeydope boomed, then, when everyone went running for the exits, two more dopes boomed at the exits. It may not take the Mossad to do it, but its definitely the mark of AQ. Has Hamas or Al aqsa Martyrs Brigade ever managed synchronized booms like this (of course they have to move boomers in from the territories, while AQ typically is operating from a base in the same city as the target) |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2004-3-3 3:04:16 PM |
| #9 Steve: You hit the nail right on the head. It drives me nuts whenever I hear newsies call any successful operation "sophisticated." One, they're usually wrong. Successful tactical operation are usually simple and violently executed. Two, it never fails to get the black helicopter crowd going. Once it appears in print that an operation was "sophisticated" every tin foil beanie wearing nut case immediately weaves it into his conspiracy theories that no mere mortal could pull off such a stunt; therefore, it must be the CIA or Mossad. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2004-3-3 12:09:44 PM |
| #8 Danny - one of my instructors at Pendleton informed us the story was a myth but, added - "BUT THAT'S THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED!!" |
| Posted by: Doc8404 2004-3-3 9:44:58 AM |
| #7 described the attacks as "very sophisticated "Ok guys, here's the plan. Step one, synchronize your watches. Step two, go to a Shiite mosque and mingle. Step three, blow yourself up at 2PM." "Damm, that's sophisticated, boss." "That's why I'm in charge." |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-3-3 8:50:46 AM |
| #6 Danny I suggest you do a net search on Pershing in the Phillipines. The story is probably a myth. Beside we do know that 911 hijackers drank alcohol. To Robert Crawford there are many such imams http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/amislam/margolis.htm |
| Posted by: Bernardz 2004-3-3 8:41:31 AM |
| #5 What a pity we can't get the imams to issue fatwas to say that anyone attacking the US is, in fact, committing suicide. Thus, anyone who attacks the US is damned for all eternity. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-3-3 8:26:03 AM |
| #4 It's a semantics thing - in English they're called "suicide bombers". The Muslims refer to them as martyrs. Suicides don't have automatic admission to Heaven; martyrs do. |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-3-3 7:10:50 AM |
| #3 Didn't the top Sunni cleric in the Sunni Triangle issue a fatwa calling all killings of Iraqis "against Islam" and a sin? I get the impression the Sunnis don't want any part of this. Which is pretty bad for the bombers and terrorists. |
| Posted by: Ben 2004-3-3 5:11:33 AM |
| #2 I'm not sure if the Moro resistance against the US colonialists in the Philipines deserves to be labelled as 'terrorism', but even if it is, and assuming this chain e-mail isn't just an urban legend, it doesn't really mean anything. Muslims who commit suicide aren't supposed to be able Paradise either, but enough Fatwas have been issued by enough high profile clerics that the suicide bombing is now considered by them as 'martyrdom'. BTW, I have yet so see this supposed barrier to the entry of heaven mentioned in any Muslim source, only by non-Muslims. And since Muslims believe they go straight to Paradise after they die, what would it matter to them what their bodies are buried with? If the Moros did react in this way a hundred years ago, it was probably because they were an extremely isolated people in South East Asia, far away from the rest of the Islamic world, and thus practicing many unIslamic superstitions. |
| Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-3-3 4:03:27 AM |
| #1 This is what must be done! THIS MUST BE DONE! SOONER RATHER THAN LATER! HOW TO STOP ISLAMIC TERRORISTS . . . it worked once in our History . . . Once in US history an episode of Islamic terrorism was very quickly stopped. It happened in the Philippines about 1911, when Gen. John J. Pershing was in command of the garrison. There had been numerous Islamic terrorist attacks, so "Black Jack" told his boys to catch the perps and teach them a lesson. Forced to dig their own graves, the terrorists were all tied to posts, execution style. The US soldiers then brought in pigs and slaughtered them, rubbing their bullets in the blood and fat. Thus, the terrorists were terrorized; they saw that they would be contaminated with hogs' blood. This would mean that they could not enter Heaven, even if they died as terrorist martyrs. All but one was shot, their bodies dumped into the grave, and the hog guts dumped atop the bodies. The lone survivor was allowed to escape back to the terrorist camp and tell his brethren what happened to the others. This brought a stop to terrorism in the Philippines for the next 50 years. Pointing a gun into the face of Islamic terrorists won't make them flinch. They welcome the chance to die for Allah. Like Gen. Pershing, we must show them that they won't get to Muslim heaven (which they believe has an endless supply of virgins) but instead will die with the hated pigs of the devil. |
| Posted by: Danny 2004-3-3 1:11:14 AM |