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| Iraq |
| Samarra residents furious over destruction of Askaria mosque |
| 2006-02-22 |
| A large explosion Wednesday heavily damaged the golden dome of one of Iraq's most famous Shiite religious shrines, sending protesters pouring into the streets. It was the third major attack against Shiite targets in as many days. Police believed some people may be buried under the debris after the 6:55 a.m. explosion at the Askariya mosque but there were no confirmed figures. The shrine contains the tombs of two revered Shiite imams, both descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. Tradition says the shrine, which draws Shiite pilgrims from throughout the Islamic world, is near the place where the last of the 12 Shiite imams, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared. Al-Mahdi, known as the "hidden imam," was the son and grandson of the two imams buried in the Askariya shrine. Shiites believe he is still alive and will return to restore justice to humanity. An attack at such an important religious shrine would constitute a grave assault on Shiite Islam at a time of rising sectarian tensions in Iraq. A police officer who declined to give his name because he is not authorized to speak to media said armed men, with at least one wearing a uniform, broke inside the shrine before sunrise and seized the five policemen responsible for guarding the site. The gunmen planted explosives and fled the area, the officer said. Following the blast, U.S. and Iraqi forces surrounded the shrine and began searching houses in the area. The Sunni Endowments, a government organization that cares for Sunni mosques and shrines, also condemned the blast and said it was sending a delegation to Samarra to investigate what happened. Thousands of demonstrators gathered near the shrine, waving Iraqi flags, Shiite religious banners and copies of the Muslim holy book, Quran. Shiite leaders in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood called for demonstrations against the blast. "This criminal act aims at igniting civil strife," said Mahmoud al-Samarie, 28-year-old builder who was among the crowd in this city 60 miles north of Baghdad. "We demand an investigation so that the criminals who did this be punished. If the government fails to do so, then we will take arm and chase the people behind this attack." Religious leaders at other mosques and shrines throughout the city denounced the attack in statements read over loudspeakers from minarets. The shrine contains the tombs of the 10th and 11th imams, Ali al-Hadi who died in 868 A.D. and his son Hassan al-Askari who died in 874 A.D and was the father of the hidden imam. The golden dome was completed in 1905. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #20 Imadinnerjacket ??? That(apostrophe)s the best laugh I(apostrophe)ve had in days. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-02-22 17:05 |
| #19 I really have to wonder if I'madinnerjacket had a hand in this to provoke the return of the hidden Imam. He's crazy enough to think it. |
| Posted by: DonM 2006-02-22 16:41 |
| #18 And Pound Sign 39; is the work around I have been using it for days in the "Your Name" field. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O' Doom 2006-02-22 16:34 |
| #17 Lol, lotp. Okay, I won(apostrophe)t take it personally. ;-) |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-22 16:22 |
| #16 Interesting, TW, but I'm thinking that's not modern rebar. May be wood, not metal. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-02-22 16:07 |
| #15 now now, .com. We didn't DELIBERATELY target your comments ... ;-) That was a joke. It was only a joke. You may return to your normal ranting now. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-22 16:00 |
| #14 Bzzzzzzzzzt! The script that checks for troll crap is eliminating them all now, it seems. Heh. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-22 15:53 |
| #13 Where'd my apostophe go? (This is a test, actually, lol) |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-22 15:52 |
| #12 Nice catch, tw! Holiest rebar I've ever seen. Dunno its rank... |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-22 15:51 |
| #11 Actually, the photo of the march in Baghdad looks pretty peaceful -- no fists, no mouths open screaming imprecations, no guns or swords waving in the air, even a few veiled women around the edges, if my eyes don't deceive me. Separately, looking at the photos of the destruction, it appears to me that the mosque must have been constructed within living memory -- isn't that rebar-and-concrete, not stone? If so, reconstruction should go fairly quickly, and it's not the same, desecration-wise, as if millenium old building had been attacked. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-02-22 14:43 |
| #10 Read the details in the article. armed men, with at least one wearing a uniform, broke inside the shrine before sunrise and seized the five policemen responsible for guarding the site. The gunmen planted explosives and fled the area, the officer said. The blast went off not long afterwards. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-02-22 14:20 |
| #9 Why didn't anyone notice people taking explosives into the shrine? Seriously, is it that common to see one of your holy sites have terrorists on it? /sarcasm |
| Posted by: Charles 2006-02-22 14:16 |
| #8 And the caption on the last pic - that the Tater mobs are saying the Americans prolly did it... YJCMTSU. Thx, NYT & Friends. Thx for the link, NickVtx! |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-22 12:10 |
| #7 Before and After Pics |
| Posted by: NickVtx 2006-02-22 12:06 |
| #6 SF, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out the Iranians have a hand in this. There has been always rivalry between Iraqi shi'ite sites and Iranians', competing over who has most 'holliest' sites. Iranians may try to use the default 'blame the sunnis' paradigm to push their agenda to reduce the influence of Iraqi shi'ite sites. I am not saying that this is the case with the Askaria mosque, but that this angle shouln't be overlooked. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2006-02-22 10:49 |
| #5 Wonder how Ahmadisnutz and the Mad Mullahs took the news this morning? |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-02-22 09:45 |
| #4 Popcorn time. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-02-22 07:05 |
| #3 maybe this will actually finally be the tipping point that the press have been saying is days away for 3 years now, maybe if it is this mythical 'tipping point' it will mean the swift and brutal irradication of many more AQ thugs in Iraq, lets hope the Iraqis just keep the fighting between each other and leave our forces out of it. Gonna be a real interesting few days i think in Iraq - finally it seems the media's much hoped for civil war may arrive..... to be continued lol |
| Posted by: ShepUK 2006-02-22 06:15 |
| #2 Speaking of Tater, Juan Cole (Yes I know he's a f**kwit) has a translation of an extended interview by Tater last Saturday on Aljazeera. He also says that due to the destruction of the Dome that Tuesday was an apocalyptic day in Iraq. |
| Posted by: tipper 2006-02-22 05:46 |
| #1 Just guessing it's prolly AQ. No one else it that nuts.I wouldn't give you 10 cents to be a Sunni in Iraq right now. Look for Tater to try and gain some political points from this as well. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O' Doom 2006-02-22 05:00 |