Many Iraqi Sunna & Shia still distrust each other

A must read in the NYT: 'In places like Al Adel, some Shiite families view the Sunni families who stayed behind as complicit partners of the violent Sunni militants who overran many mixed neighborhoods. But many Sunni families say they now feel like they are being hounded by returning Shiites who, for the first time in centuries, have the force of the government and army at their backs.

...Many Sunni families watched over houses vacated by their Shiite neighbors, but Mr. Majid believes others invited squatters and became the eyes of Sunni militants, passing along information about their Shiite neighbors."

Explosion kills 53 Shia in Basra

"The explosion hit a tent where pilgrims were being fed around 8:30 a.m., killing at least 53 people, including several police officers at a nearby checkpoint, and wounding more than 130 others, local officials said."

PS: CNN says it was a suicide bomber: "A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman targeted Shiite pilgrims Saturday outside the southern Iraqi city of Basra, killing at least 53 people and wounding 137, the Interior Ministry said."

Bombings kill 71 Shia in Iraq

"A string of explosions targeting Shiite Muslims that killed at least 71 people bore the hallmark of Sunni Arab insurgents who have a history of trying to capitalize on tensions among Iraqi politicians to reignite the communal violence that nearly tore the country apart."

Islamist militants bomb Nigerian Churches on Christmas

"The Boko Haram Islamist sect, which aims to impose sharia law across the country, claimed responsibility for the three church bombs, the second Christmas in a row the group has caused mass carnage with deadly bombings of churches. Security forces also blamed the sect for two other blasts in the north."

This is a major violation of the Qur'an, I would say.

Hashemi accuses Iraqi govt of bombing Shia neighborhoods

"Iraq's Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi has said Iraq's government was behind Thursday's series of bombings that killed nearly 70 people in Baghdad."

I think many Sunni Arabs believe this. It's either Iran or the Iraqi government, or both, according to them. I don't hear as many Arabs blaming Americans for bombings that kill civilians.

Thanks Anonymous for posting the link.

They attacked markets, grocery stores, schools, and govt buildings

"Using car bombs and improvised explosive devices, insurgents attacked markets, grocery stores, schools and government buildings in a dozen neighborhoods in central and eastern part of the capital."

Iraq has experienced the equivalent of 300 9/11s since 2003

CSM: "Mr. Maliki has had an arrest warrant issued for Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who has fled to autonomous Kurdistan. Mr. Hashemi has been charged with running a death squad. Whatever the merits of the charges against him -- few Iraqi politicians are more than one or two degrees separated from the sectarian violence at the height of Iraq's civil war – the timing of the charges sent a strong message that political consolidation, not reconciliation, is the order of the day.

Since then, the largely Sunni Iraqiya bloc has withdrawn its legislators, Maliki has begun parliamentary proceedings to remove the Sunni Saleh al-Mutlaq from his post as deputy prime minister (a position granted last year in recognition of the strong showing of Iraqiyya at the polls), and the prime minister has threatened to dismiss all of his political rivals from the cabinet and pack the government with Shiite loyalists.

As this paper wrote a few days ago, all of this strongly increases the odds that Iraq could plunge back into a sectarian civil war.

This is not, however, inevitable. The massive scale of Iraq's violence and the cleansing of whole neighborhoods of Christians, Shiites, and Sunnis will reverberate and create challenges for years. At minimum, 100,000 have died from violence in the war. Adjusted for population, that's the equivalent of one million Americans killed, or more than 300 9-11s, since 2003."

16 bombings in 13 Baghdad neighborhoods kill 69 civilians

"A string of explosions ripped through the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing at least 60 people and injuring nearly 200 just days after the last U.S. troops left the country, police and health officials said.

The attacks came in the midst of a political standoff between the country’s main Shiite and Sunni Muslim factions, heightening fears of a return to the sectarian bloodletting that devastated the country a few years ago.

...There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the seemingly coordinated attacks bore the hallmarks of Sunni insurgents linked to Al Qaeda, who regularly target Shiites and have previously sought to capitalize on political tension to ignite sectarian strife."


12 of the 13 areas bombed are Shia neighborhoods. One of my co-workers is an Iranian American who hates the mullahs. He's convinced Iran had something to do with the bombings. I hate the mullahs too, but it doesn't make sense to me that Iran would bomb Shia neighborhoods in Iraq. My co-worker said that Iran wants to control Iraq. By bombing Iraqi Shia? I don't get it. It is interesting that my Iranian American co-worker is a Republican.

US officially ends Iraq war

LAT: 'The violence also goes on — by some estimates, an average of 30 bombings and other attacks each week and about 10 deaths a day. That death toll is roughly 20% of what it was during the worst days of the Shiite-Sunni warfare in 2006.

More than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed, according to Iraq Body Count, a website that has tracked the war. About 12% died at the hands of American forces and the rest in terrorist attacks, sectarian violence and extrajudicial executions.

The security of civilians is now the responsibility of Iraqi troops and police, visible on virtually every major street in Baghdad, searching passing cars and patrolling avenues. More than a year ago, they took over security responsibilities after U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq's cities.

With the Americans gone, it is up to men like Cpl. Hatim Abdul Kareem to help control the country's endemic violence. He has his doubts. A Shiite, he lost a cousin to sectarian violence. He fears more bloodletting after U.S. troops leave.

"After the Americans are gone, there will be war in the streets," he said. "This is not just me saying this. Other soldiers are saying this. My family, my friends, they're all saying the violence will get worse." '

12,284 civilians killed in suicide bombings in Iraq 2003 - 2010

"While sophisticated roadside bombs have taken a heavy toll on American troops over the course of the war here, suicide bombings have largely been a hallmark of sectarian warfare. Independent researchers have now tried to quantify their damage, poring through data compiled from death reports to conclude that more than 12,000 Iraqis have been killed in at least 1,000 suicide attacks since the American-led invasion.

...According to the paper, from March 20, 2003, to the end of 2010, suicide bombers killed 12,284 Iraqi civilians and wounded 30,644 others. The attacks killed 200 coalition troops, including 175 from the United States."

Thanks idit for posting.

According to this Wikipedia article, there were 1,759 suicide bombings in Iraq between 2003 and 2010.

Sectarianism in Mid East "enveloped in denial"

Ah, what a great way to put it.

Amir Madani on Bahrain: 'Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the regime of creating a "climate of fear," particularly in Shia neighborhoods and villages where nighttime raids appear designed mainly to instill terror among the mostly poor residents.

This is the sense of what is happening in Bahrain, the tiny isle located on the south side of the Persian Gulf where the ruling al-Khalifa from the Sunni minority is threatening the majority Shiite population. Of course there is diversity and ethnic variety in Bahrain, as elsewhere, which extends even into the religious field. Tulin Daloglu, a Turkish journalist based in Washington, writes: "Sectarianism in the Middle East is grievous, pernicious and enveloped in denial."

However, the Bahraini have not taken to the streets for primarily sectarian reasons, but rather to demand democracy and the recognition of civil rights; and, yes, the end of the apartheid system that excludes the majority of the population from full political life and reserves all the levers of power for the minority. As in other Arab countries, the Bahraini have begun pushing their own political and economic demands.'

Attacks on Shiite pilgrims continue

"Deadly attacks against religious pilgrims continued in Iraq on Monday, with three car bombs exploding in Karbala, where as many as 10 million marchers are expected for one of the most sacred holidays on the Shiite calendar.

The explosions, which began with two nearly simultaneous blasts in the early morning, killed as many as 30 people and wounded more than 100. At least 85 Shiite pilgrims have been killed in Karbala in the past week."

They are cowards

They always have been. And they think they're going to heaven.

'No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Iraqi officials said the blasts were likely the work of al-Qaida. "The attacks were expected, because this is the biggest annual commemoration, with the highest number of pilgrims," Hussein Sadhan, a member of Karbala's provincial council, told The New York Times. "We are expecting more attacks by al-Qaida because the pilgrims are open and easy to target and while al-Qaida is invisible."

...And in Baquba, three more people, including a female journalist, were killed in a car bomb today. "I heard a massive blast and suddenly, there was a rain of shrapnel falling from the sky," Murtada Aiseh, a government employee, told Agence France-Presse. "I woke up in the hospital and found my wife near my bed; she suffered injuries to her right hand." '

Dozens of Shia pilgrims killed

"Suicide bombers launched a series of deadly assaults on Thursday against pilgrims marching toward a shrine sacred to Shiite Muslims, the police said, and dozens were killed in a third straight day of attacks against an array of targets.

The pilgrimage, which was banned under Saddam Hussein, is expected to draw as many as 10 million people to the city of Karbala over 10 days. It has been an annual flash point for sectarian violence. Until this week, the holiday had been free of major bloodshed, and Iraqi security forces had claimed progress in their ability to protect the populace from violent extremist groups.

That progress evaporated on Thursday, as three car bombs along the roads leading to Karbala, some 60 miles south of Baghdad, killed at least 52 people and wounded 150, according to an official with the Iraqi police."

Suicide bombers kill 40 Shia in Iran

"Suspected suicide bombers in Iran’s restive south-eastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan killed at least 40 Shia Muslims and injured more than 50 amid mounting sectarian strife in the Sunni-dominated region.

Local media reported that two suicide bombers infiltrated crowds of mourners who had gathered in the port of Chabahar on Wednesday for a two-day national festival to commemorate the death of the third Shia imam."

Read more: Suicide bombers kill 40 in restive Iranian province

Thanks Maury for the alert.

Attacks on Shiite pilgrims continue

"At least 10 Shiite pilgrims were killed and dozens wounded in attacks targeting them in Iraq on Tuesday evening, officials said.

In western Baghdad's Ghazaliya neighborhood a roadside bomb detonated near a gathering of pilgrims killing at least 10 and wounding 21 others, an Interior Ministry official said.

To the north of Baghdad, in Diyala province, at least 14 people were wounded when a roadside bomb detonated near a procession of Shiite pilgrims in Khalis, according to the town's mayor.

This was the third attack in as many days in the ethnically mixed Diyala province targeting Shiite pilgrims. On Sunday and Monday two suicide attacks in the province left at least five people killed and nearly two dozen wounded.

Attacks targeting Shiite pilgrims have spiked in recent days as hundreds of thousands of worshipers have been making their way to the holy city of Karbala in southern Iraq and other Shiite shrines."

Sunni extremists continue to terrorize Iraqi Shia

"Four people were killed and more than a dozen were wounded Monday in attacks on three groups of Shiite Muslims observing the religious holiday of Ashura. In the worst attack, a suicide bomber struck the end of a procession in Diyala Province, killing 4 people and wounding 15, mostly women. In Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near a procession, wounding four, and three others were hurt in a blast near a Shiite mosque. For several years, largely Sunni insurgent groups have attacked Shiites during the holiday, which commemorates the centuries-old death of a revered imam."

-- JACK HEALY

Murder of Christians in Mousul continues

"Three people were killed Monday in Iraq in the latest attack targeting Christians, police in the city of Mosul said.

In one attack, two Christian brothers were killed in Mosul when gunmen broke into their workplace in an industrial part of the city and shot them. The brothers were welders who owned the shop.

On Monday evening, police found an elderly Christian woman strangled in her home in central Mosul.

The attacks on Christians started October 31 in Baghdad have extended to the northern parts of the country, such as Mosul.

Last week, a bomb attached to the vehicle of a Christian man detonated in eastern Mosul, killing him and his 6-year-old daughter, local police told CNN.

The November 16 attack came one day after two Christian men in adjacent homes were killed after gunmen stormed their houses.

Also on November 15, a bomb detonated outside a Christian home. It caused damages but no injuries."

Sectarian violence continues after elections

"Bombings gutted a market and destroyed at least five buildings in working-class Shiite Muslim areas of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing dozens as violence following last month's elections continued to escalate and raise fears among Iraqis that a new civil war could erupt."

Meanwhile the "Palestinian Pundit" is much more concerned about a three year old US helicopter attack that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters journalists.

WikiLeaks did not merely post the 38-minute video, it used the label “Collateral Murder” and said it depicted “indiscriminate” and “unprovoked” killing.

Hey that sounds like what Al Qaeda did just in the last few days. But our Arab brethren seem to be angered only when Americans kill Iraqis, as they always have been.

As the KABOBfest continues...

...and as Arab Americans are angered by the assassination of a Hamas weapons buyer in a Dubai hotel,

A series of bombings, beheadings and shootings rippled through Iraq on Monday, leaving at least 23 people dead — including 9 children — and intensifying concern about a spike in violence with less than two weeks until national elections.

Authorities detected no discernible pattern to the violence, with rockets exploding in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, car bombings aimed at government buildings, assassinations of security officers and government officials and the killings of two families in their homes in Baghdad.

The slayings of the families was reminiscent of the attacks common during the height of the bloodletting between Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq a few years ago.

In the largely Shiite town of Madaen, south of Baghdad, a gang of gunmen stormed a home of a family and killed all eight people there, including six children.

“The criminals have beheaded some of the victims,” according to a brief statement from Baghdad Operations Command.

Beheading is considered a trademark of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a largely domestic insurgent group with some foreign leaders created in the aftermath of the American-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in April 2003. But the Iraqi authorities gave no indication as to the motive behind the attack.

In another Shiite district in Baghdad, a mother and her three children were gunned down in the middle of the night, according to government officials.