You guys always said you don’t get all the news from Iraq. And I always agreed with you!
I was shocked today when I read the news in the foreign newspapers. No one emphasized the marvelous cooperation and solidarity between the Shiites and the Sunnis in Iraq yesterday after the bombing of one of the most respected and visited holy sites in Islam, the Askariyah shrine, which is in Samarra city north of Baghdad. The shrine contains the remains of two 9th century Imams, Imam Ali al-Hadi and Imam Hasan Askari. They are now wrongly considered as Shiite Imams. [Just so you know, in the 9th century there weren't Shiites and Sunnis yet. There were Muslims, who were fighting each other over power. And later on they invented Sunni and Shiite parts of Islam. Also for a background, all the dead “Shiite” Imams of the earlier centuries, like Mousa Kadhum, Ali, Hussein, and others, are considered as Sunni Imams too and are very much respected by all Muslims because they descend from Profit Muhammed. Sunni Imams, like Abu Haneefa, Abdul Qadir Gailani, Ahmed Rifaie, and others, cannot be considered as Shiite Imams because not all of them share the same grandfather. Therefore, I told my friends yesterday that the terrorists played it wrong. if they want to provoke a civil war, they should attack shrines of Sunni Imams, because that would upset more Sunnis than Shiites, not like yesterday. Yesterday, the attack upset and angered Sunnis and Shiites equally.]
Here are some information,which, for whatever reason, you don’t get in your news about the bombing:
The first reaction to the bombing which “targeted a Shiite” shrine came from the Sunni residents of Samarra. The first demonstration to condemn the attack was held spontaneously by Sunnis in the area where the shrine is. Almost all Sunni leaders went on TV to condemn the attack and show solidarity and unity with the Shiites. Here are some of what the Sunni leaders said on TVs all day yesterday [that’s what I could get]
- Wafiq Samarraie, a Sunni politician from Samarra city and serves as Iraq’s president’s advisor for security issues. [from Arabiya satellite channel]
He said “Iamam Ali al-Hadi is not only for Shiites. The shrine is a symbol of all Iraqis and of Samara city in particular. I demand to dismiss the governor of the province and take all the legal procedures to prevent strife. There will be no strife in Iraq. Iraqis will not fight each other. Samarra city should be protected. The information is very clear. The government should have chased the terrorists in eastern Samarra and they are a few. The government and the governor should have done something this issue. I tell the tribes in Samarra, especially in eastern Samarra, that ‘ it is a shame to leave the strangers among you. You should inform the police force about them.’”
- The Iraqi Islamic Party, IIP, one of the most powerful Sunni political and religious groups, issued a statement saying: “The size of the wicked conspiracy that is targeting the Iraqis, their sacred symbols, and unity, is clear now. After the series of attacking mosques and assassinations of clergies, people of Samarra woke up today on the bombing of Imam Ali Al-Hadi dome. We, the Iraqi Islamic Party/ Samarra branch, denounce this criminal act and demand a wide investigation to reveal the controversies that raise many questions on who was behind this incident. The commandos have cordoned the holy shrine since last night and tide up its guards and put them in a room and the people of Samarra released them after the bombing. The commandos prevented shop owners from going to their shops in the morning and there was movement of the occupation forces in the city all night long. All these controversies and others need an honest and wide investigation to find the real criminals and not hide them no matter what the reason is. We in the Iraqi Islamic Party/ Samarra branch, urge our people to go in wide, peaceful demonstrations to condemn this crime. We also remind all Iraqis to protect their unity to prevent the chance for suspicious conspiracies, which target all Iraqis with no exception. IIP/ Samarra branch”
- Iraq’s Kurdish president, Jalal Talbani, net with tribal leaders and prominent figures from Salahudin province, where Samarra city is, and talked about the incident. [from Iraqiya satellite channel]
He said “This is a crime against Iraq as a whole, not against Shiites only. It aims to provoke a sectarian strife and a civil war among us. I hope the Sunni clergies would condemn this crime. We all are facing a conspiracy against Iraq and its entity. Therefore we should all unite to prevent the danger of civil war.”
- Tariq al-Hashimi, secretary general of the Iraqi Islamic Party, held a press conference yesterday. Some of what he said was: “"29 mosques were attacked either by burning or occupation using missiles and grenades. The IIP considers these attacks as historical crimes which everybody should work on stooping them. we call on everybody for the self control. There is a conspiracy against the Iraqi people. Everyone should cooperate to stop this conspiracy. This is a battle in which everyone wants to hurt the other."
- Abdil Aziz Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Shiite party that controls the country now, appeared on Arabiya satellite channel and said: “The Sunnis had honorable reaction today. They rejected and condemned this crime. All of us should hold our hands together to combat terrorism.”
- Iraq’s Marjiyas [religious authorities] Shiite and Sunni, they all called on people to self-control and “peacefully” demonstrate together to condemn the attack. They specifically asked people “not to attack Sunni mosques or shrines.”
I was amazed how only the provocative and civil-war-style quotes were published today in the newspapers. Almost no newspaper showed how great, it appeared to us, the solidarity among Iraqis was yesterday. It is true that Sunni mosques were attacked by unknown men yesterday, and some Sunnis were killed. But that wasn’t the only thing happened as a reaction. Newspapers should have been neutral, as we were taught, and show both sides. Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, Arabs, Christians, Sabians, Turkumans, and others publicly condemned the attack, but no one wanted to show the truth. I am not saying there will be no riots in Iraq to react to the shrine attack. I am not saying there weren't mosques that were attacked yesterday and burned down. I am not saying that Shiites and Sunnis kissed and hugged after the attack yesterday. All what I am saying is that the news made Iraqis look like if they were fighting each other widely in the streets, which is not true. The news only made Iraqis sound like barbarians killing each other. There are barbarian Iraqis, like other people in the world, I am not saying all Iraqis are perfect and compete with angels in their manners. But why when anything good happens, they show the bad side of it too in their stories, but when any bad thing to happen, they only write about it and not the good sides around it?
All expect civil war in Iraq, which might happen although I don’t believe it would. Therefore, they want to contribute to the civil war’s first step. Shame on you all! Shame on the “free and honest” press!
At 5:50 AM, 
Original_Jeff
Very good post, 24.
However, I noticed that the IIP is still failing to get a handle on reality. They are creating, from whole cloth, a myth that all the mosques --whether the one in Samarra or the others burned in retaliation-- were damaged by Coalition forces.
This is not surprising since the IIP is the "terrorists' party". But it does show that the political face of the insurgency is wondering whether they have made a grievious error.
24,
Don't these newspapers and news agencies hire Iraqis to help them get the situation on the ground?
Most newspapers get their news from AP, Reuters and AFP which from what I understand hire Iraqis to shoot and report for them. So, the people reporting for them share the responsibility in reporting what's happening in Iraq.
Here's the headline on WaPo front page this morning:
Sectarian Violence Surges After Shrine Bombing
I read the first two pages of the report and there was nothing about Sunni and Shia calming down things. Actually it was the opposite.
Now, the report has the name of an Iraqi journalist and an American journalist. Which one of those two persons should we believe?
And can you tell me why we have a week of mourning over the shrine bombing when nobody was reported killed?
So every time a builiding get bombed we mourn for a week? Would that apply to all sectors of Iraqi society? Shouldn't the freaking government be working to establish law and order instead of this show off of holiness.
Sorry 24, but the hypocracy of the Iraqi government is unbelieveable. That's not my opinion only. The same opinion is held by other Iraqis who e-mail me on a regular basis.
At 6:42 AM, 
24 Steps, What country are you living in? The press is doing what they should be doing: reporting things on the ground, events in the street. Why should anyone care about hypocritical and complimentary statements from politicians trapped in the Green Zone who first, have no idea on what is going on, and second, have no real power to control the street.
Also, you seem to ignore the inflammatory statements by the same politicians you quote. Tariq Al-Hashimi threatened reprisals against reprisals and mosque attacks. Al-Hakim called for more powers to his Badr militia, and also said Khalilzad was to blame for the Samarra bombing. Sistani called for 'groups of the faithful' (militias) to demonstrate and to protect holy sites if the government is unable to. The Accord front suspended all negotiations on forming the new government and refused to meet with UIA representatives today. The Association of Muslim Scholars are blaming Sadrists (their former allies) for the attacks against mosques, and implied that the government was behind the Samarra bombing.
These are all very dangerous and troubling statements. The press has a grip on reality, you seem not to have one.
At 8:15 AM,
At 8:45 AM,
24, to be fair I read many Iraqi bloggers yesterday and all said the atmosphere in the streets was incredibly tense and people were rushing home in fear of sectarian violence, etc. I did read some quotes (I don't remember which newspaper or news sources) by Sunni and Shia leader calling for unity and cooperation. But I also read many credible reports of sectarian violence and calls for revenge. The situation is neither black nor white and you seem to be ignoring the other, very prominent, side of the story.
At 8:49 AM,
Mark & Zeyad,
No one can report on everything at once. 24 is posting on the Iraqis that are calling for peace. There is a place for reports on those gambling for violence, but there is a place for this too.
Many Iraqis are calling for violence. Many reasonable Iraqis are calling for peace. Even Iraqis who have until now been giving the insurgency a wink and a nod, are now desiring to separate the insurgency from this act by conjuring up a claim that the US or British military was behind this act? (You ask how that could be in their interest? I answer, "Who cares? The point is they are evil so they must have done it.") Like Zeyad, I did note that Al-Hakim is trying to walk on both sides of the street at once by claiming that US caused this by insisting on a non-sectarian government.
In the end, I believe, it will not be the Iraqi government or Sadr or Zarqawi or Saddam's Orphans who will decide this. It will the Iraqi people who will decide that a sectarian civil war is not in their interests and will fight against *that*.
I'm betting on Iraq.
At 2:47 PM,
24,
I am a capitolist. I believe it is a system that has more benifits than drawbacks, but the drawbacks are many. Make no mistake, News is buisness. Their first goal is to make money. That means showing the most disturbing part of any and every story. That way, people are compelled to watch. That is why blogs like yours are so important. It keeps the news people from going too far. Keep it up! But dont get too mad at them, they just want to pay the bills and stay open.
At 6:19 PM, myotherfellow
I am unsurprised by the violent reaction to this despicable crime, because the fundamental dispute between Shiites and Sunnis outrageously spawns hatred, nonstop. I am unsurprised, therefore, by the reprisal attacks at Sunni mosques.
As a Shiite, I am shocked, however, at the murder of three Sunni journalists in Samarra.
At 6:36 PM, Mad Canuck
Hey 24,
As you know, I have several Iraqi friends. I spoke to three of them yesterday, all of whom are Sunni, and what really struck me was how badly they all felt about that shrine being destroyed. Every one of them seemed nostalgic in their description of that shrine's beauty and of how you could see its golden dome from the road on the way between Baghdad and Mosul, and none of them could imagine an Iraqi wanting to destroy it.
Whoever destroyed this shrine doesn't care about Iraq or Iraqis, they just wanted to provoke a civil war between them. If Iraqis actually start this civil war, the cockroaches behind this heinous attack have achieved their goal.
I wrote a blog post on this yesterday myself: to me, this sounds like the work of al-Qaeda, the same cockroaches who bombed those hotels in Jordan, and who chopped off the head of innocent hostages. The strategy seems in-line with the intercepted Zarqawi letter from two years ago: provoking a sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia to give them cause to slaughter Shia.
I am really praying for you guys over there, and I hope things turn out okay. As I see it, things could go two ways, either Shia and Sunni will fight a civil war against each other, or will together realize that they have a common enemy in whoever blew up this shrine and work closer to root out that enemy. I hope the latter scenario prevails over the former.
At 6:56 PM, Truth About Iraqis
Mad Canuck,
I don't think a single Iraqi I know has been pleased by this bombing. Rather, Shia, Sunni and Christians I have spoken with have all been shocked to tears...
What many don't understand is that despite our differences we all love our country and our people.
I don't know if there are any positive outcomes. The best case scenario is that Iraq is able to escape from falling into the abyss of civil war.
In such a case, the country's spirit will have been broken once and for all.
Then the great manipulators will step in - the foreign powers that either through meddling or incompetence have created the right kind of atmosphere for all this to happen.
Iran still has a great role to play. And don't forget the death squads.
That this all came when:
Increased US pressure on Jaafary to form a pluralistic government;
A war of words between Khalilzad and Badr Princess Hakim;
Increased media coverage of death squads (a recent report said 1500 highway policemen were suspected of operating death squads);
A report that 400 personnel of the Interior Ministry were under suspecion of involvement in corruption and death squads;
Jaafary's PM job no longer looks secure;
Pressure on Iran for its nuclear program;
Pressure on Iran - Khalilzad blasts Tehran for its role in fomenting violence in Iraq;
Pressure on the UK - Iran says the UK must withdraw from Iraq immediately;
UK Foreign Secretary visits Iraq;
Rice visits Egypt to try again to push for US troops (Cheney's trip last month bombed);
Sadr visits Iran and pledges to defend it in case it is attacked;
Sadr visits Syria, Jordan etcetera etcetera ...;
Sadr says US troops out;
Sadr says federalism rejected ...
The timing is uncanny ...
Nevertheless, a tragedy which continues to unfold.
At 8:01 PM,
I am deeply shocked by this incident and I am losing hope in Iraq. I couldn't find words to describe my feelings, but Zeyad said it best in his blog..
"What kind of nation are we? What kind of nation kills its intellectuals and academics, its doctors and healers, its women and children, its clerics and preachers? What kind of nation blows up churches and mosques, hotels and schools, funerals and weddings? We have left nothing sacred. Yet we have the insolence to accuse others of offending us, of vilifying us. I announce today that we have proved ourselves worthy of that vilification. Ten years ago, I denounced religion and disavowed Islam. I do not want to be forced to disavow my country and nation today, but with every new day, I’m afraid I am getting closer to it."
At 6:26 AM, 24 Steps to Liberty
hey guys,
im sorry. there waas a long curfew and couldnt get an internet access [i dont have electricity at home]
so, i just wanted to say few words:
all of those who said that the streets gave the impression that it is tense and violent atmosphere, i wasnt you to go back and read the post again. there, i said that mosqeus were burned and people were killed and there might be a civil war, although i dont believe it would happen. i just gave you more news, which happen to be different!
Zeyad [who thinks he knows everything!!] and the others, who said i ignored the other side. NO people, i didnt. i got the other side, like you did, from the media outlets! they did pretty well in telling it. i just added what was dropped off!
Thank you for the excelent post 24. Please stay safe.
I asked on my blog today Who are we to believe?
Personally I will take your word and that of other Iraqi's living through this.
I also have a link to a Victor Davis Hanson post. I would be curious to know what you think about it.
Well 24, I can honestly say I know you didn't leave out the rest nor are you in some type of denial mode. You simply stated what was left out of the press. So many people read the press and take it to be the final word. No matter how bad it appears at the moment, there are good things happening behind the scenes. These do need to be brought up. I know that the majority of Iraqi's do not want a civil war nor have they been drawn into the current hate filled atmosphere.
As difficult as it may be right now, try to keep your hope up 24. Because without hope, nothing good could ever happen anywhere.
This is something that a lot of people need to remember. No matter where they are.
At 11:10 AM, Dinah Lord
Zarqawi and Al Qaeda are laughing their ass off right now, hoping for more killing and violence and I am sure they are behind some of the current goings on.
They blew up the Shrine just as surely as the sun will come up tomorrow.
Zarqawi told us, many times, that his aim is to disrupt the Iraqi government and to cause civil strife and war so as to drive out the Americans.
Go back and look at what he has said, he even got his ass chewed out about his methods, but he defended his methods and has continued to kill Iraqis and anyone else he thinks will cause the most strife and hatred.
Everyone is going to feel pretty foolish when the aQ men that did this are on Iraqi TV confessing their crime.
That is, if they believe them and don't blame it on some other group such as the Americans or Jews.
Another thing, Sadr should have been killed long ago. As long as he is around, there will be no peace, only more hatred stired up by him.
Papa Ray
West Texas
USA
Papa Ray,
The Mehdi Army is pretty out in front with a full frontal assault on Sunni Arabs. Hopefully, this will mean that they can become targets.
However, if the reports of cooperation from ministry and Army forces is true, there is a serious undercurrent of Shi'a hostility toward Sunni Arabs as the source of the insurgency. How wide spread it is, I don't know and I don't think anyone else does either.
At 10:39 AM,
At 3:03 PM,
24 Steps,
Excellent post.
I am sorry, 24, I hope it gets better soon.
It is a little weird that the USA ("evil infidel Zionist imperialist invader") tried so hard to avoid mosque damage (except when actual direct fire was coming from a mosque) and now they are being damaged anyway.