.
BAGHDAD – In a bold blow to Iraqi hopes for peace, suspected al-Qaida bombers toppled the towering minarets of Samarra’s revered Shiite shrine, adding new provocation to old wounds a year after the mosque’s Golden Dome was destroyed.
Images show the stages of destruction of the Askariya Shrine in Samarra, Iraq. From top to bottom: a Feb. 2004 photo of the shrine, the shrine in Feb. 2006 following an explosion which destroyed its dome, and a June 13, 2007 view after insurgents blew up its two minarets. (AP Photos)
The attack stoked fears of a surge in violence between Muslim sects. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government rushed to contain Shiite wrath against Sunnis: It clamped a curfew on Baghdad and asked for U.S. troop reinforcements in Samarra, 60 miles north of here, and for a heightened American military alert in the capital.
But sketchy reports of sectarian strife began to come in. Police told of at least four Sunni mosques in Baghdad and south of the capital attacked by arsonists and bombers, and of a smaller Shiite shrine bombed north of here.
How the attackers evaded the Askariya shrine’s guard force, strengthened considerably after the 2006 bombing, was a mystery.
Al-Maliki said policemen at the shrine were detained for questioning, and the Interior Ministry said members of “a terrorist group” — in addition to the policemen — were arrested in Samarra and were being interrogated in connection with the shrine attack.
The morning blasts shook the Tigris River-side city of Samarra, sending a cloud of dust billowing into the air, said Imad Nagi, a storeowner 100 yards from the shrine. “After the dust settled, I couldn’t see the minarets any more. So, I closed the shop quickly and went home.”
Ugh. I was sick to my stomach last year when this happened – it was ominous sign, in my opinion.
And now that super-sickly feeling is back again…
More than one person has suggested that the original bombing was intended to divert attacks on US soldiers…I fell sick too, FWIW.
reprisal attacks have already begun:
yeah tony, levels of confidence?….rose coloured glasses?…the situation has gone from bad, to worse, to worser, to wtf is going on?! status…but we’ll stand down when they stand up…how’s that working out…eh?
we’ve lost any ability we ever had, no matter how slim it was, two plus years ago, to provide even a semblance of security there. it’s nothing but survival for the troops now, and chances of that’s deteriorating too; see Larry Johnson’s the bombed bridges of baghdad
lie, obfuscate, lie some more….refuse to respond to oversight requirements…cite this or that privilege…their eye’s are on one thing and one thing only….getting the oil, and escaping in jan 2009.
lTMF’sA
clik images for info
I just can’t help but think the further crime of blowing up the minarets was done by the DIA or CIA to continue to give the neocons a reason to keep troops in Iraq, and further inflame the region.
I just can’t stop myself from thinking it’s the administration’s doing.
They have everything to gain by increasing chaos in the region.