The Shi'a in our opinion, these are the key to change. Targeting and striking their religious, political, and military symbols, will make them show their rage against the Sunnis and bear their inner vengeance. If we succeed in dragging them into a sectarian war, this will awaken the sleepy Sunnis…..
Also regarding why they must incite a Civil War, Zarqawi said:
if we fight them, that will be difficult because there will be a schism between us and the people of the region. How can we kill their cousins and sons and under what pretext, after the Americans start withdrawing? The Americans will continue to control from their bases, but the sons of this land will be the authority. This is the democracy, we will have no pretext.
Yet Democrats and their Media handlers have yet to acknowledge what Zarqawi recognized 2 years ago. Once united and self determined, Iraqis would turn on them and their campaign of terror in Iraq would bear no fruit.
On February 22nd 2006 terrorists destroyed the Golden Dome Mosque in Samarra in a dramatic effort to incite a war between Shiite and Sunni muslims in Iraq. This is indicative of utter desperation on the part of al Qaeda. Pause and consider what they are attempting to do. Shia and Sunni Muslims have existed throughout the mid east since right after the death of their Prophet Mohammed. It was the choice of his successor that created the split. That has resulted in minor cultural differences over time, but they are all still muslims. So when you hear the hope dripping from the fingertips or the mouth of Zarqawi and/or the global left that Iraq’s new Constitutional Democracy will devolve into a bloody Shiite Sunni Civil War, know that they are basically saying that the Muslim religion is about to implode in sectarian violence. Such violence would spread throught the mid-east where the greatest concentration of Muslims exist. A fact I am sure that Muslim leaders throughout the region are well aware. Is this something they want? Highly doubtful. And they will take ever opportunity to see that it does not transpire. So now that we have all the recent hysterical reports of “civil war” from the Democrat Media in proper context, let’s examine what happened in Iraq starting with the bombing of the Golden Dome Mosque. First from an Iraqi blogger at Iraq the Model:
February 22nd 2006 – “I believe there are foreign terror groups behind this attack and I don't think local insurgent would do such a thing, simply because this particular shrine had been in Sunni territory for a thousand years and the residents of Samarra had always benefited from the movement of religious tourism and pilgrimage. The quality of the target and the timing of the attack were chosen in a way that can possibly bring very serious consequences over the country. “
But the Democrat Media want you to believe it was ordinary Iraqi Sunni Arabs because that fits with their and Zarqawi’s “civil war” wishes.
So who did Iraqis blame? Iraqis blame “foreigners”:
February 23, 2006 - The foreign fighters must have been stunned when Shiite and Sunni leaders rushed out statements saying they knew that the takfiri (i.e., those who accuse other Muslims of being infidels, a code word in this context for the foreign extremists) were behind the attack, and they would not let this act of brutality divide Iraq. In an announcement on his website, Shiite leader Ayatollah Ali Sistani blamed “takfiris [who] meant to foment sedition among the Iraqi people, thus fulfilling their malicious goals.” He added, “we urge everyone not to be dragged into committing acts that would only please the enemies, namely, the sectarian sedition which they have long attempted to push Iraq into its furnace.” Shiite radical Muqtada al-Sadr — remember him? — blamed the attack on the takfiri, Saddam loyalists, and “the occupation.” “We should not attack Sunni mosques,” he said on al Jazeera. “I ordered [his militia the] Al-Mahdi Army to protect the Shiite and Sunni shrines and to show a high sense of responsibility, something they actually did.”
Immediately, Sunni and Shia Iraqi leaders condemned the attacks. More from Iraq the Model:
“Vehicles with loudspeakers roaming the streets calling on people to shut their stores in the name of the Hawza and join the protests after the noon prayer to condemn the attack on the holy shrine. Ayatollah Sistani reacted quickly to the escalating anger by issuing a fatwa that forbids his followers from "Taking any action against Sunni sites" obviously to discourage his followers from carrying out retaliatory attacks on Sunni mosques. [Muqtada] al Sadr cut his tour in Lebanon and is heading back to Baghdad, he called on his followers from Beirut to "have self-control and refrain from violence". Both Sunni and Shia mosques are condemning the attack through their loudspeakers. President Talabani promises to make rebuilding the shrine his personal responsibility and to donate the required money from his own. Head of the Sunni endowment sheikh Ahmed al-Samarra'I announces that he will allocate 2 billion dinars ($1.4 million) for the rebuilding of the shrine from the treasury of the Sunni endowment. The top 4 Shia Ayatollahs hold a meeting at Sistani's home to discuss the situation. The Association of Muslim scholars and the Islamic Party condemn the "criminal act". Jafari in a press conference calls for national unity and the leaders of the UIA hold a meeting.
February 26, 2006 - THE movement of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, alleged to have played a role in the anti-Sunni violence over the last few days, publicly made peace with political and religious Sunni leaders overnight. Four sheikhs from the Sadr movement made a "pact of honour" with the conservative Sunni Muslim Scholars Association, and called for an end to attacks on places of worship, the shedding of blood and condemning any act leading to sedition. The agreement was made in the particularly symbolic setting of Baghdad's premier Sunni mosque Abu Hanifa where the Shiite sheikhs prayed under the guidance of Sunni imam Abdel Salam al-Qubaissi. The meeting was broadcast on television and the religious leaders all "condemned the blowing up of the Shiite mausoleum of Samarra as much as the acts of sabotage against the houses of God as well as the assassinations and terrorisation of Muslims". The statement made reference to the key concerns of both communities with the violent aftermath to the attack on the Samarra mausoleum which saw more than 119 people die.
Iraqi Security forces moved in quickly to maintain order. From Iraq the Model on the day of the bombing:
Heavy deployment for the police and other security forces with more frequent checkpoints that are stop-searching cars more often than they usually do.
From reporter Ralp Peters in Iraq:
And the people here have been impressed that their government reacted effectively to last week's strife, that their soldiers and police brought order to the streets. The Iraqi army deployed over 100,000 soldiers to maintain public order. U.S. Forces remained available as a backup, but Iraqi soldiers controlled the streets. Iraqi forces behaved with discipline and restraint - as the local sectarian outbreaks fizzled, not one civilian had been killed by an Iraqi soldier. Time and again, Iraqi military officers were able to defuse potential confrontations and frustrate terrorist hopes of igniting a religious war. Forty-seven battalions drawn from all 10 of Iraq's army divisions took part in an operation that, above all, aimed at reassuring the public. The effort worked - from the luxury districts to the slums, the Iraqis were proud of their army. As a result of its nationwide success, the Iraqi army gained tremendously in confidence. Its morale soared. [T]he truth is that we're seeing a new, competent, patriotic military emerge.
March 4th 2006 - The commander of Iraq's ground forces, General Abdul Qadir, is an armor officer with extensive battlefield experience. Qadir stood up to Saddam, stating that his adventure in Kuwait was destined to fail. He was sent to prison for seven years. Only his history of combat valor saved him from death. Now Saddam's in prison and Qadir's determined to build a better Iraq. In his office in the Defense Ministry - an ornate building whose marble halls and crystal chandeliers predate Saddam - Qadir beamed with pride at the performance of his troops over the previous 10 days. "Not one unit had sectarian difficulties," he stressed. "Not one. And when we canceled all leaves after the mosque bombing - we expected trouble, of course - our soldiers returned promptly to their units. Now it is as you see for yourself: Iraqis are proud of their own soldiers." Asked when he thought American troops should leave Iraq, Qadir said, "We must not be in too great a hurry for you to go," stressing that patience and cooperation were crucial to ultimate success. American troop levels could be reduced in the next few years, but with over 40 years of military service - and as a member of an old Sunni-Arab military family - Qadir has no illusions about the challenges ahead. Iraqi combat units have made significant progress, but sustaining that success depends on building a reliable logistics infrastructure, on building up communications and intelligence capabilities and on developing a training system that aims at Western standards. Given the mess Saddam left behind, Qadir's mission is formidable. And the progress to date is impressive to any knowledgeable observer.
QADIR'S principal American adviser, Col. Tom McCool, said of the recent mini-crisis, "It's a good-news story. The Iraqis performed every bit as well as we expected." A firm believer in the general's vision and abilities, McCool stresses that Qadir's a "true soldier," not a political hack, personally incorruptible. Paraphrasing one of his own U.S. Army superiors, McCool said, "The Iraqi army has to build an airplane while it's already flying. And they're doing it amazingly well." If Qadir and McCool are confident, so is Brig.-Gen. Dan Bolger, our Army officer charged with "assisting the Iraqis in forming their military." On the day of the Samarra bombing, Bolger expected trouble and headed out into the streets with the Iraqi military. Instead of widespread strife in the districts of Baghdad he visited, he found "the most average day in the world." Bolger has a distinguished career behind him as an Infantryman. But he's also written a rucksack full of superb books ranging from military history to fiction, and he's one of the most respected thinkers-in-uniform of his generation. He's the right man for his assignment. Bolger stressed that the coverage of the past few weeks - and of the Iraqi army overall - had been just plain inaccurate. Building a military from scratch and changing its culture profoundly is incredibly difficult, yet Bolger's impressed that, after some undeniable birth pains (before Bolger's tenure), the Iraqi army's development is accelerating impressively. "We bail the Iraqis out less and less," he told The Post, observing that the Iraqis want to do things by themselves - although they'll need some U.S. support for the next few years. "They want us to make a long-term commitment," he said, referring not to a heavy U.S. troop presence, but to a mutually beneficial strategic partnership. Sitting behind his desk in a Spartan office in Baghdad, Bolger exploded another myth - that the new Iraqi military's been infiltrated by militia members. "It's actually hard to penetrate the army," he said. "They're not garrisoned locally, but mixed into truly national units and deployed around the country." In the recent flare-up, sectarian issues had not been a problem in a single Irai unit. Bolger mused about the terminology Iraqi officers employ. They refer to terrorists as "terrorists," but call the native insurgents "criminals" and despise them. He stresses that the Iraqis have it right: "The criminal element is an underestimated element in the violence. A lot of these people are just predators." Bolger believes that, if we have a reasonable amount of patience, the new Iraqi military will emerge as the best in the Arab world - and a firm ally in the region.
What about ordinary Iraqis? How did they react to the bombing of the Golden Dome Mosque? Again from Iraqi the Model the day of the bombing:
“Ordinary Iraqis turned out in the streets to condemn the violence and call for unity. Huge demonstrations in many of Iraq's provinces including Samarra and Mosul where thousands of people condemned the attack.“
More from Gateway Pundit on February 24, 2006 -
Many Iraqi cities witnessed large demonstrations after Friday prayers (yesterday). These demonstrations were calling for national unity, not being pulled into civil war after attacks on Sunni mosques as retaliation to the bombing of the samara Shiite shrine. In Mousul 500 people demonstrated in Bartila (north west of the city). The demonstrations were lead by Sunni & Shiite leaders to condemn all bombings and call for a unified line and not be pulled into a sectarian war. Another demonstration started from the offices of the high council for Islamic revolution (Shiite). The demonstration was lead by Sunni and Shiite religious leaders. Banners condemned attacks on mosques, shrines and churches the banners also condemned terror also no to Saddam yes to Islam. In Hillah over 3000 demonstrated after Friday’s united prayers (Shiite & Muslim together) at the Haytaween mosque. The united prayers were lead by Sheik Mohamed Alfateh (Sunni) and Sheik Jasim Alkalebi (Shiite). The two speakers called for Muslim unity and denounced all terror activity as unIslamic and asked for keeping unity. In Al-Koot hundreds demonstrated after Friday prayers protesting the bombing of the samara shrine and the attacks on the Sunni mosques. Unified Friday prayers in Al-Koot were held at the large central mosque in the city. Speakers at the prayers call for rejecting sectarianism. In Amarah over 15,000 demonstrated after Friday prayers condemning the samara bombing and attacks on Sunni mosques. Banners read, Sunnis & Shiites are like Hassan & Hussein (referring to two grand children of the profit Mohamed), banners also read that Muslim references (Shiite religious leaders) condemn terrorism in all its forms. In Karbala Sheik Abdulmehdi Alkarblaa’i (representative of Sustain) in his Friday after prayers speech at the Hussein Shrine called for peaceful and brotherly coexistence, condemned violence and called for national unity. He added; "We know the nature of this crime and the ones before it, we also know these crimes are not of Sunni doings, but they are the deeds of the enemies of Sunnis & Shiites". In Basra over 10,000 demonstrated with banners asking to form the new government as quickly as possible. Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves during a protest rally in Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq Friday. Religious leaders summoned Iraq's Shiites and Sunnis to joint prayer services Friday amid an extraordinary daytime curfew aimed at halting a wave of sectarian violence that has killed nearly 130 people since the bombing of one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines. We have much more evidence of a strong national unity movement in Iraq. This is exactly the opposite of what the bombers of the samara shrine (Alzarqawi’s group is a strong suspect) wanted to achieve. This attack was supposed to plunge Iraq into sectarian mayhem and senseless massive killing. This did not happen. A few over zealous individuals attacked Sunni mosques (8-11 Sunni mosques burned and small arms fire hit about 100) and killed Sunnis (120-160). There is no excuse for these retaliations; they are exactly what the enemies of democracy and freedom in Iraq want. It is playing into their hands. Let us remember that Iraq is the size of California and has over 25 million people. Every neighborhood has at least two mosques. Considering this the retaliations are small while tragic. Demonstrations in Baghdad (in spite of the curfew) called for national unity. Combined Sunni & Shiite prayers were held all over Iraq. This is a sign of a people united not divided. A people with a common cause (defeating terrorism), a people with a common goal (self rule through democracy, rule of law & freedom). The terrorists are bringing about their eventual demise by uniting Iraqis. We witnessed this effect on 9-11. Americans were united and developed the strong resolve to fight terrorist. Let us not forget that we were attacked not so long ago.
More from an Iraqi camerman working for NBC news:
the direction of the anger has changed. A year ago everyone was angry at the Americans. Everyone thought they were responsible. But that is not the message I am getting on the street now. People know these attacks are being carried out by the extremists.
The coverage from the Democrat Media was, as it always is, SICKENING (check the Time Magazine cover at that link). When they err, they do so on the side of making the situation look as bad as they possibly can. Take the death toll from the “civil war” for example:
The Washington Post claimed 1300 were killed. However, on March 3rd 2006, the top U.S. commander in Iraq declared an end to a 10-day wave of sectarian violence that killed an estimated 350 civilians, asserting that many reports of violence were "exaggerated." Ralph Peters, reporting from Forward Operating Base Loyalty, where he's been riding with the 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, reacts to the “civil war” meme that the Democrat Media pushed:
The other day, I drove another 30 miles or so on the streets and alleys of Baghdad. I'm looking for the civil war that The New York Times declared. And I just can't find it. Maybe actually being on the ground in Iraq prevents me from seeing it. Perhaps the view's clearer from Manhattan. It could be that my background as an intelligence officer didn't give me the right skills. And riding around with the U.S. Army, looking at things first-hand, is certainly a technique to which The New York Times wouldn't stoop in such an hour of crisis. Let me tell you what I saw anyway. Rolling with the "instant Infantry" gunners of the 1st Platoon of Bravo Battery, 4-320 Field Artillery, I saw children and teenagers in a Shia slum jumping up and down and cheering our troops as they drove by. Cheering our troops. All day - and it was a long day - we drove through Shia and Sunni neighborhoods. Everywhere, the reception was warm. No violence. None. And no hostility toward our troops. Iraqis went out of their way to tell us we were welcome. Instead of a civil war, something very different happened because of the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra. The fanatic attempt to stir up Sunni-vs.-Shia strife, and the subsequent spate of violent attacks, caused popular support for the U.S. presence to spike upward. Think Abu Musab al-Zarqawi intended that? In place of the civil war that elements in our media declared, I saw full streets, open shops, traffic jams, donkey carts, Muslim holiday flags - and children everywhere, waving as our Humvees passed. Even the clouds of dust we stirred up didn't deter them. And the presence of children in the streets is the best possible indicator of a low threat level. Southeast Baghdad, at least, was happy to see our troops. And we didn't just drive past them. First Lt. Clenn Frost, the platoon leader, took every opportunity to dismount and mingle with the people. Women brought their children out of their compound gates to say hello. A local sheik spontaneously invited us into his garden for colas and sesame biscuits. It wasn't the Age of Aquarius. The people had serious concerns. And security was No. 1. They wanted the Americans to crack down harder on the foreign terrorists and to disarm the local militias. Iraqis don't like and don't support the militias, Shia or Sunni, which are nothing more than armed gangs. Help's on the way, if slowly. The Iraqi Army has confounded its Western critics, performing extremely well last week. And the people trust their new army to an encouraging degree. The Iraqi police aren't all the way there yet, and the population doesn't yet have much confidence in them. But all of this takes time. And even the police are making progress. We took a team of them with us so they could train beside our troops. We visited a Public Order Battalion - a gendarmerie outfit - that reeked of sloth and carelessness. But the regular Iraqi Police outfit down the road proved surprisingly enthusiastic and professional. It's just an uneven, difficult, frustrating process.
So why were we told that Iraq was irreversibly in the throes of civil war when it wasn't remotely true? I think the answers are straightforward. First, of course, some parties in the West are anxious to believe the worst about Iraq. They've staked their reputations on Iraq's failure. But there's no way we can let irresponsible journalists off the hook - or their parent organizations. And the Iraqi stringers have cracked the code: The Americans don't pay for good news. So they exaggerate the bad. And some of them have agendas of their own. A few days ago, a wild claim that the Baghdad morgue held 1,300 bodies was treated as Gospel truth. Yet Iraqis exaggerate madly and often have partisan interests. Did any Western reporter go to that morgue and count the bodies - a rough count would have done it - before telling the world the news? I doubt it. If reporters really care, it's easy to get out on the streets of Baghdad. The 506th Infantry Regiment - and other great military units - will take journalists on their patrols virtually anywhere in the city. Our troops are great to work with. I'm just afraid that some of our journalists don't want to know the truth anymore. For me, though, memories of Baghdad will be the cannoneers of the 1st Platoon walking the dusty, reeking alleys of Baghdad. I'll recall 1st Lt. Frost conducting diplomacy with the locals and leading his men through a date-palm grove in a search for insurgent mortar sites. I'll remember that lieutenant investigating the murder of a Sunni mullah during last week's disturbances, cracking down on black-marketers, checking up on sewer construction, reassuring citizens - and generally doing the job of a lieutenant-colonel in peacetime. Oh, and I'll remember those "radical Shias" cheering our patrol as we passed by.
And then there’s the stuff the Democrat Media would rather not report:
Earlier in February the Karabla tribe in al-Anbar province, an al Qaeda hotbed, announced they would take up arms against insurgents from abroad. In the al-Anbar capital of Ramadi, once a Zarqawi stronghold, open warfare has erupted between the local insurgent groups and the foreign fighters, particularly after the assassination of respected local tribal leader Sheikh Naser Abdul Karim al-Miklif. And recently eight major western Iraqi tribal chiefs met with General George Casey and Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to discuss ways to work together to stabilize the province. This is a welcome and long overdue recognition of the decisive role Sunni tribal leaders must play in resolving the insurgency.
Some large Sunni tribes in have declared war on al Qaeda. The resistance, they say, should be an Iraqi-only affair. "All those who offer shelter to terrorists will be treated like terrorists," they add. Tell me again why the media thinks Zarqawi is making progress?
March 9th, 2006 - Residents reported curious declarations hanging from mosque walls and market stalls recently in Ramadi, the Sunni Muslim insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad. The fliers said Iraqi militants had turned on and were killing foreign al-Qaida fighters, their one-time allies. A local tribal leader and Iraq's Defense Ministry have said followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, have begun fleeing Anbar province and Ramadi, its capital, to cities and mountain ranges near the Iranian border. Al-Jadaan, the Anbar tribal leader, looked confidently to the future and — if his prediction comes true — what likely will be a hero's role in the eyes of the U.S. military. "Under my leadership and that of our brothers in other tribes, we are getting close to the shelter of this terrorist," al-Jadaan said of al-Zarqawi. "We will capture him soon."
Micro to Macro – This whole “civil war” tripe being pushed by the MSM helps fuel the moral of Abu Zarqawi and al Qaeda in Iraq. They are the ones that want a civil war. Not the Iraqi people. Not the Iraqi leadership. And this entire “mini-crisis” has once again exposed the Democrat Media’s play-book on Iraq. Inflate the bad news, suppress the good news, and embolden the enemies of freedom and democracy at the same time that America’s finest are giving their lives and shedding blood to ensure our success. To end this on a positive note. The parallels between the “civil war” that wasn’t and the overall view of our mission in Iraq are similar in this respect as well – The enemies of freedom/the terrorist leftist nexus FAILED to incite a civil war in Iraq. They will likewise FAIL at destroying the Constitutional Democracy we’ve sacrificed soo much to create. A fact Abu Zarqawi has recognized, but Democrats and their Media refuse to. Their lust for power will be satiated at any cost.
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