Iraq's civil war comes to the U.S.

[ProSense]

Iraq's shadow widens Sunni-Shiite split in United States

By Neil MacFarquhar
Published: February 4, 2007

DEARBORN, Michigan: Twice recently, vandals have shattered windows at three mosques and a dozen businesses popular among Shiite Muslims along Warren Avenue, the spine of the Arab community here.

Although the police have arrested no one, most in Dearborn's Iraqi Shiite community blame the Sunni Muslims.

"The Shiites were very happy that they killed Saddam, but the Sunnis were in tears," Aqeel al-Tamimi, 34, an immigrant Iraqi truck driver and a Shiite, said as he ate roasted chicken and flatbread at Al-Akashi restaurant, one of the establishments damaged over the city line in Detroit. "These people look at us like we sold our country to America."

Escalating tensions between Sunnis and Shiites across the Middle East are rippling through some American Muslim communities, and have been blamed for incidents, including vandalism and student confrontations. Political splits between those for and against the American invasion of Iraq fuel some of the animosity, but it is also a fight among Muslims about who represents Islam.

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[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. This is an aspect of the conflict that few Americans,

especially freepers, recognize. This schism has been going on for centuries, and, sadly, many people love to hold grudges.

[ProSense]

2. One week, 1,000 Iraqis dead; four copters were shot down

Iraqi Interior Ministry estimates 1,000 killed in one week

POSTED: 8:50 a.m. EST, February 4, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi Interior Ministry estimates that about 1,000 people have been killed throughout Iraq in the past week due to gunbattles, drive-by shootings and bomb attacks, a ministry official said Sunday.

The figure includes members of militia and terrorist groups, civilians and Iraqi security forces. The official said the data was gathered by Iraq's Interior, Health and Defense ministries.

The grim estimate came just a day after a bloody bomb attack on a crowded market in central Baghdad that killed 128 people and wounded 343 others Saturday, according to a Health Ministry official.

The incident, which also destroyed cars and surrounding stores, occurred in Sedriya, a mixed district of Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds.

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U.S. adjusting tactics in Iraq after copters downed

50 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military is adjusting its tactics in Iraq after four helicopters were shot down over the past two weeks, U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said on Sunday.

Caldwell said the helicopters had been shot down in four separate incidents in which 21 U.S. servicemen and private security contractors were killed, confirming earlier witness reports and leaks from within the U.S. military.

Dozens of U.S. helicopters have come down, some of them hit by missiles or gunfire, in four years of fighting. But the unusually high number of helicopters lost in such a short time had raised questions about whether militants had changed tactics or were using more sophisticated weapons.

"There has been an ongoing effort to target our helicopters," Caldwell told reporters in Baghdad "We have had four helicopters shot down ... It appears they were all the result of some kind of ground fire."

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[ProSense]

3. Bush's illegal invasion sparks one of the worst tragedies in Iraq's history

Bush's illegal invasion sparks one of the worst tragedies in Iraq's history