US troop presence sparks Shi'ite fury beyond Iraq

[JoFerret]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040521/wl_nm/iraq_shiites_region_dc&cid=574&ncid=1480

MANAMA (Reuters) - Shi'ite Muslims took to the streets in three Middle Eastern capitals on Friday in sometimes violent protests against the U.S. military presence in Iraq (news - web sites)'s Shi'ite shrine cities, witnesses said.

Angry Bahrainis clashed with security forces in the capital Manama and set a police car on fire after police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of mainly Shi'ite demonstrators demanding that U.S. troops leave Najaf and Kerbala in southern Iraq.

More than 20 people were hurt in the clash.

In Tehran, protesters hurled petrol bombs and stones at the British embassy for the third time in less than a week to denounce the presence of Western forces in Iraq.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese Shi'ites in white shrouds marched in a Beirut suburb in a collective show of willingness to die in defense of holy shrines in U.S.-occupied Iraq.


<more>

[robbedvoter]

1. The war on terra is doing just fine! terra one - war zero eom

[Journeyman]

3. And just think, we're only a year into this "war". . .

imagine how swimmingly everything will be in another three or four years, when our troops are spread throughout even more countries. . .

Ya just gotta vote for Bush, especially if you're the sort who finds excitement and satisfaction when the plumbing backs up. . .

[Aidoneus]

5. "terra"?

[FreakinDJ]

2. God Bush and Cheney ....going to have that holy war yet

Those idiots

They thump the Bible in one hand and start a Holy War in the other. How many Americans are going to support these idiots is the only thing I want to know.

[Aidoneus]

4. some pictures of the Lebanon march

Can't find any good shots of the Bahrain demonstration right now..


http://news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/iraq/082701iraqplane&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&e=49&a=&printer=


http://news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/iraq/082701iraqplane&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&e=48&a=&printer=


http://news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/iraq/082701iraqplane&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&e=51&a=&printer=


http://news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/iraq/082701iraqplane&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&e=63&a=&printer=


http://news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/iraq/082701iraqplane&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&e=68&a=&printer=

[Dubya-2004]

6. Why Have You People...

Ignored the WMD that was found in Iraq?

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13438

[bemildred]

8. It's been discussed here.

Frankly, it's horseshit.

[leftchick]

12. must be a faux watcher...

they distort the sheep comply!

[leftchick]

9. because the WMD only exist in....

king dumbya*s teeny, tiny, little, liquor soaked, drug addled brain!

enjoy your short stay D!

:hi:

[Just Me]

11. *smile*,...hi, sweety,...welcome to DU,...hope you find yourself,...

,...more informed when you leave than you did when you came.

:hi:

Thank you sooooo much for that post. We, here at DU, are passionate about being "informed" and making "informed" judgments and decisions.

[Jacobin]

13. Oh, yeah.

Did Hannity tell you about it?

One 155 millimeter shell from pre-1991 (by the way, you DO know we sold him that shit) that was a dud.

Do you know how big 155 millimeters is? Do you know how many people were hurt when it "went off"?

Do you know how many more they have found? (answer NONE)

Good thing we invaded IraqNam, killed ten thousand Iraqi civilians, maimed thousands of american soldiers and spent 200 billion dollars and can't figure out how to get out of IraqNam, huh.

If we hadn't the weapons inspectors would still be there and no telling how long it would have taken them to find that one fucking shell. Plus, there wouldn't have been all the blood and guts and bombs you guys like so much.

[bemildred]

7. Is that Jesus in the first one?

Looks kinda like him.
:-)

[Just Me]

15. I could be wrong,...but, I believe that is Mohammad. n/t

[Aidoneus]

19. Nope, Ali

close..

[bemildred]

20. Thnx.

Thought it might be. He sort of holds the same psychological
niche, doesn't he?.

Edit: no, that would be Husayn.

[leftchick]

14. Hey Aidoneus.....

Do you happen to know who that is in the top photo? He looks like a really cleaned up version Al-Sadr.

[Aidoneus]

18. I recognized the picture in front as being of Hazrat Imam Ali (AS)

I've seen that before, and that was confirmed by the caption. The 2nd one (upper left, a little obscured), I'm not sure.. might be Husayn(AS).

I'm told from a friend who had family participate in the demo that there were many posters of Sadr around. The "tinfoilhatter" in me thinks that Bremer has stock in the company that prints & sells those, thus is deliberately making a worldwide hero of him in order for that stock to rise....but I'd prefer to just assume myopic recklessness instead.

[Bandit]

16. And the Freepers say these people have no freedom of speech

I would say they seem pretty free to me to assemble and protest.

[Aidoneus]

17. Since this is "fun with pictures" day for me..

here's a few shots of what is provoking that "fury":--


Iraqi Shiites and Sunni's celebrate a joined Friday prayer in front of the Imam Kadim shrine in in the Kadimiyah district of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 21, 2004. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

I can't quite tell, but that looks like Nasrallah's face on the left:--the most popular & inspirational political figure in the region, though that role may temporarily have been taken over by Sadr (pictured on the right of the poster) for the moment.


Black smoke rises from an ancient cemetery in Najaf, May 21, 2004. Sporadic fighting flared between the U.S. Army and supporters of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Friday. U.S. troops pounded Shi'ite militia in the holy city of Kerbala on Friday in a bid to crush insurgents whose demands for Americans to leave Iraq are gaining support among Iraqis frustrated with the occupation. REUTERS/Akram Saleh


A member of the Rikad Nayef family, foreground, name not given, explains to other family members how 27 members of his family were killed during a funeral ceremony in Ramadi, 110 km west of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, May 20, 2004. The Nayef family lost 27 of their family members, when a U.S. helicopter fired on a wedding party in the remote desert near the border with Syria, killing more than 40 people, mostly women and children. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)


Mashaal Nayef, front, gestures as he explains how they buried the rest of their family at a cemetery outside Ramadi, 110 km west of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, May 20, 2004. More than 40 people, most of them women and children where killed Wednesday, when a U.S. helicopter fired on a wedding party in the remote desert near the border with Syria. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)


Iraqi Taleb Nawaf grieves at a cemetery outside Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, May 20, 2004. Taleb buried his wife Amal and his two daughters Anoud, 2, and Kholood, 1, who were killed Wednesday, when a U.S. helicopter fired on a wedding party in the remote desert near the border with Syria, killing more than 40 people, most of whom were women and children.(AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

[Aidoneus]

22. ok, the links under the pictures already don't match up..

I had intended for those to be a link to the captions, but they've already changed.

[lanlady]

10. bad scene in Bahrain

saw this on al-Jazeera:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5BB5398A-365A-414D-BD2D-19FEFB93918F.htm

[Cooley Hurd]

21. Juan Cole sez:

http://juancole.com

<snip>
Could these dmonstrations in Bahrain be significant? Yes. Bahrain has a Sunni monarchy. Lately it has taken baby steps toward democracy and more open elections, but these did not benefit the Shiites because they wanted even more open elections, and boycotted them. Therefore, the Sunni fundamentalists largely won the seats (and the Sunni fundamentalists don't even represent most Bahraini Sunnis much less the Shiites). So the situation there is potentially volatile. The US is doing nothing to make it less so, and everything to exacerbate it.

The other shoe? Will the Shiites of al-Hasa in Eastern Arabia, where the oil is and where there are 90,000 Americans at Dhahran, be the next to riot?

It is most unwise for the US miitary to fight in downtown Najaf and Karbala near the shrines. I say it again.
</snip>

Not a good development...

[Disturbed]

23. Muslims

How many Muslims are there? Seems to me that BushCo is trying real hard to enrage all of them. You know damn well that cameras & video cams will be strictly outlawed for troops from now on.

BushCo can be toppled even before the election if the torture story keeps expanding. The Neo Fascists of BushCo are criminals and it is possible that the can be prosecuted. Not highly likely but...possible.