Video Shows Coalition Forces Didn't Desecrate Mosque in Jan. 1 Raid

[Red State Rebel]

Very interesting article....shows another side to this incident.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2004 -- Coalition Provisional Authority and military officials in Baghdad, Iraq, today showed reporters a video as proof that coalition and Iraqi security forces took extra care not to desecrate the holy site during a raid of a mosque Jan. 1.

Some media reported protests by angry Sunni Iraqis, who accused U.S. soldiers of ripping pages from the mosque's Quran during a New Year's Day raid at the Ibn Taymiyah mosque near the Iraqi capital. During the raid, coalition and Iraqi security forces uncovered a large cache of weapons and took 34 people into custody.

[bryant69]

1. Ha!

The people who are looking for evidence of perfidy on the part of American troops aren't going to be swayed by a puny video.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Superfly]

2. Who is winning this war?

Those who control the popular opinion through the media. This video will be supressed in the ME, and the last thing people there will hear or see is that US troops desecrated a mosque.

[Don Claybrook]

3. The video is supressed here

Where can I see it? Or should we just believe what we're told by our government?

[Wwagsthedog]

4. The mere fact that the troops wore boots into the Mosque...

...is considered an act of desecration.

[Gulf Coast J]

5. But hiding weapons in a mosque isn't desecration?

Public opinion in the ME isn't in the troops favor, but I can't really fault them.

[bobbieinok]

6. Wasn't there a DU link yesterday to a news report

about US military releasing an 'edited' video????????

[bryant69]

7. And let's face it

Does anybody need any further proof than the half remembered discussion of an edited video?

[bobbieinok]

11. my point was

I saw this. Did anyone else?? Does anyone have a link??

Original message linked to an article about a video proving something.

I remember yesterday a linke about an 'edited' video.

Are these the same videos?????

I don't immediately believe what I read anywhere.

I do think I can make a remark without being sneered at.

[bryant69]

12. You'd think so.

But without the link, this doesn't mean anything. I have to say as well, expecting other people to prove your point for you isn't a winning strategy; why would they bother? If you are convinced there was a discussion, including a link that suggests an edited tape, go find it and I'll apologize for doubting you.

[On the Road]

8. Actually, a non-Muslim Can't Even ENTER a Mosque

If you visit a Muslim state, the only mosques you can see are the ones that have been desanctified, like the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia in Istanbul. There were multiple levels of desecration here.

[Sufi Marmot]

16. Not true...

It's my understanding that at least in Turkey, you can enter mosques to look around if you remove your shoes, are resepctfully dressed, and are generally quiet and well-behaved. I think people are discouraged from wandering around when people are praying, but visitors can certainly poke their heads into mosques and look around at other times, at least according to my Lonely Planet -Turkey guidebook. Some imams are apparently willing to show you around if they're asked politely.

I certainly intend to enter mosques in Turkey and elsewhere in the Middle East unless I'm directly asked to leave.

-SM

On edit: Mosque Etiquette for Turkey

[DUreader]

9. Lets Get The Videos For The Many Other Incidents That Have Occurred

[spanone]

10. It really doesn't matter what "we the people" in the US think

Popular opinion in the US means nothing to the Muslims who think their mosque was desecrated.

[_Jumper_]

13. And we shouldn't care about Muslim fundies in Iraq

Why should we care about what fundies, who think that people shouldn't be allowed to enter a mosque because they were born different, think about a raid to find weapons?

[bedtimeforbonzo]

14. Suuuuure...

If the bush-owned media says that we didn't commit war crimes, then I guess we didn't.

[ConsAreLiars]

15. You clipped that opinion piece from where?

Do you have a link?

The two paragraphs you quote (?) reveal an incredible level of ignorance.

You might have noticed the many replays of happy Iraqis pounding the Saddam statue with the soles of their shoes, or even the much less often aired video of unhappy Iraqis shaking their shoes at occupation soldiers. Many cultures regard removal of shoes before entering any dwelling as a simple matter of decent hygiene, and regard tracking "dirt" across any threshold is offensive. What the raiders did was essentially smearing shit across a holy place.

Further, entering a holy place without invitation is another form of desecration in many societies. You might have noticed that when a church in Bethlehem was used as a refuge by Palestinians the Israeli Army laid siege rather than forcing entry, and later negotiated some agreement.

Unless this video shows shoeless soldiers being escorted into that mosque by the clerics, the title you posted is a deception.

And the "large cache of weapons" assertion is a wildly unsubstantiated allegation, unless "large" means the same as "small."

[ConsAreLiars]

17. Ahh, I found the source. It is a press release from the DoD

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jan2004/n01042004_200401041.html

Not surprising that no link was cited. Such omissions always make me curious.