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| Iraq |
| Locals’ relief as holy site is secured |
| 2003-04-03 |
| They have destroyed the local Ba'ath party headquarters. They are gathering up crate after crate of captured weapons. Now, United States forces in Najaf revered by the world's Shiite Muslims have secured the gold-domed Ali mosque, still pristine and intact after three days of furious combat. Residents seemed to sense that something fundamental had shifted in their lives and that a grave threat to their religious heritage had fallen away. Thousands poured into the streets of this city of 500,000 on Wednesday, cheering a Humvee convoy carrying a US colonel — the warmest reception for US forces so far. Offering religious chants and salutes, 2000 to 3000 people greeted Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Hughes and his men. Although soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division have yet to fully seize Najaf, the city was secure enough for the division commander, Major-General David Petraeus, to plough through the southern districts in an armoured convoy. Residents who had been wary of the Americans — mindful that an uprising against Saddam Hussein's Sunni Muslim regime in 1991 had been brutally repressed after expected US support did not materialise — were pointing out minefields to US soldiers, commanders said. Najaf is home to the tomb and shrine of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad. US commanders said that before their forces secured the Ali mosque, they were shot at from the structure by Iraqi forces but did not return fire. Colonel Hughes paid his respects outside the mosque to the city's senior cleric, Ayatollah Said Ali al Sistani. The US incursion essentially freed Sistani from more than 15 years of house arrest imposed by Saddam's regime, Colonel Hughes said. The colonel said he assured Ayatollah Sistani that the Americans did not intend to harm Shiites or their religious sites. The ayatollah was overwhelmed by his abrupt change of circumstance, Colonel Hughes said. "He's kind of in shock as to really how to handle the responsibility of everybody looking up to him, asking him advice." This is the cleric who issued the fatwa supporting us. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #8 Showing the Shites that"Freedom of Religion"is integral to the American mind-set.Those soldiers are right on in what they did.It won'tchange the minds of the Islamofacist,but will go a long way toward showing the moderates that Americans are not the"Great Satan". |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-04-04 08:42:45 |
| #7 This doesn't sound quite right to me. Has a search of the mosque been done? How was the mosque secured? It seems to me that we are fighting this war with one hand tied behind our backs. If the Iraqis use mosques to fight from they are no longer religious sites and should be treated as any other military objective. |
| Posted by: TJ Jackson 2003-04-04 01:00:42 |
| #6 actually Syria is the opposite of Iraq - the Baath party there is many Shia - (again the local minority - a pattern in large part because of Baath secularism, but also due to the local make-up of the army officer corps who have dominated the Baath for a while) They put down Sunni uprising in a place called Hamma (sp?) very viciously some years ago - thus Syria's alliance with Iran and tight relationship with Shia in Lebanon. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-04-03 16:06:28 |
| #5 This is huge. If we can convince Shiites that we are trustworthy infidels it will have repurcussions in Syria where the Sunni minority is in charge. It would be nice to see an uprising in Syria against the Assad's. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-04-03 15:05:41 |
| #4 I can't wait to hear how NPR and Beeb will spin this! Something like this maybe: "2000 to 3000 people greeted Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Hughes and his men [with AK-47s waving in the air, probably intending to shoot the Colonel and his infidels]" |
| Posted by: RW 2003-04-03 12:36:28 |
| #3 The end of this article notes that there was still enough resistance to "pepper" the convoy with small-arms fire. It is really extraordinary that the Sydney Morning Herald did not make "continued resistance" the main focus of the article, and note the change in circumstance for the Shi'ites only in passing. Might be a fluke. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2003-04-03 10:08:29 |
| #2 2000 to 3000 people greeted Lieutenant-Colonel Chris Hughes and his men. I can't wait to hear how NPR and Beeb will spin this! ha! It won't be easy, they will probably completely ignore it, except to briefly note it is secure after intense fighting at the mosque. I imagine 99% of their future reporting we be limited to whining about how the reconstruction will fail. |
| Posted by: becky 2003-04-03 09:50:30 |
| #1 Hope the goodwill lats. It was really smart to keep from destroying the mosque - wonder how they got it without losses? As was commented yesterday, first the christian church of nativity is desecrated by paleos and then the iraqis turn mosques into foxholes to attract attacks. When will they respect other religions if they don't respect other sects of their own religion? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-04-03 09:29:19 |