| What part of "conquered people" don't you understand? |
A cleric at one of Shia Islamâs holiest shrines in the Iraqi city Karbala denounced the presence of US troops in the country during Friday prayers, saying it amounted to imperialism by âunbelievers.â
| Oh, horrors! Unbelievers! Oh, hold me, Fatimah! |
âWe reject this foreign occupation, which is a new imperialism. We donât want it anymore,â Sheikh Kaazem Al-Abahadi Al-Nasari told thousands of Muslim faithful at the mausoleum of Imam Hussein, revered by the Shias and the grandson of the Prophet Mohammad. We donât need the Americans. Theyâre here to control our oil. Theyâre unbelievers, but as for us, we have the power of mouth faith.â
| He also didn't believe the Merkins and the Brits were going to demolish Sammy's regime in three weeks. And no doubt Mr. Imam could have easily done so himself, without our help — he just didn't get around to it... |
Friday prayers resumed at this sacred site last week for the first time since May 2002 after being banned by deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, fearful of Shia opposition to his rule. Iraqâs 25- million strong community is 60 percent Shia and were violently repressed and politically not represented under Hussein.
| That's why they rose up in their wrath and threw him out, by Gawd! But then those Merkins and Brits came in and ruined everything... |
The Shias are flexing their collective muscle for the first time in decades. Sheikh Nasri denounced âthose politicians who are coming back to Iraq supported by the Americans and British, who given the opportunity would only obey American orders.â His speech may have been a veiled jab at Ahmad Chalabi, who bills himself as a secular Shia, and reportedly a Pentagon favorite for leading Iraq. Chalabi, who left Iraq in 1958 and returned in recent months, said Friday he had no plans for running the country.
| "We don't need nobody from outside the country. Except maybe from Iran. They understand us..." |
Spirits were also high in the Shia shantytown in Baghdad were the Al-Hikma mosque held the first Friday prayers since 1999 riots sparked by the assassination of a prominent cleric Mohammad Sadeq Sadr. Some 50,000 people jammed the streets of Al-Sadr City, formerly known as Saddam City, patrolled by Kalashnikov-wielding guards.
| Wonder who they were, and what they were guarding against? |
Hundreds of thousands poured out of mosques and demonstrated against Washingtonâs presence. The sermons around the city offered the first clear reaction among Muslim clergy to the three-week war and US occupation. At the Al-Hikma mosque Sheikh Mohammad Fartusi said the Shia would not accept a brand of democracy âthat allows Iraqis to say what they want but gives them no say in their destiny. This form of government would be worse than Saddam Hussein.â |