U.S. Troops Storm Mosque in Attack on Iraq Militia

[floda]

KUFA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. tanks, ground troops and aircraft launched a major offensive against Iraqi Shi'ite militia Sunday, killing about 20 in one raid on a mosque and pounding other positions around the holy city of Najaf.

The fiercest fighting in the area for weeks killed at least 34 people and wounded dozens, including civilians, overnight and seemed a definitive answer to a tentative truce offer made by an aide to the cleric leading the Mehdi Army, Moqtada al-Sadr.

Pools of blood lay inside the green-domed Sahla mosque, one of three main shrines in Kufa just outside Najaf, and spent cartridges littered the courtyard. A tank had smashed down the door of the building, where U.S. troops said they found weapons.

U.S. commanders say they are trying to avoid inflaming religious passions but will attack mosques used in combat.

Sadr, a young firebrand preacher from a respected clerical dynasty, has irritated much of the Shi'ite establishment with his use of holy places in his revolt. Some Shi'ite leaders have also demanded the Americans show restraint in the shrine cities.

more...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5227262




Not an ordinairy daily mosk it seems. Here is some info i found:

On the outskirts of Kufa is the famous Sahla Mosque, which is also a center of pilgrimage for people from around the world. The large premises was the house of Prophet Idrees or Enoch long before the deluge of Prophet Noah and it also has the Mosallas or prayer stations of Prophet Abraham, Khezr, Imam Zain ol-Abedin (AS) and Imam Ja’far Sadeq (AS). The main attraction for pilgrims to the Sahla Mosque is the Maqaam-e Saheb oz-Zamaan in honour of the Lord of the Age Imam Mahdi (May God hasten his reappearance). God grants the prayers of the faithful at this blessed spot and interestingly, this place would become the seat of the global government of the 12th Imam on his reappearance. :mad:

[Cooley Hurd]

1. It's this kind of stupidity on the part of the coalition...

...that makes me think that this REALLY IS a "crusade..." :scared:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I'm sure

the right wing Xian fundamentalist whackos are gleefully telling their congregations about this today, ignoring the fact that this will only inflame passions and very likely result in more terrorist attacks against Americans. Meanwhile, in Heaven, Jesus and the other prophets weep.....

[MisterP]

11. these people are drooling for the Dome of the Rock to be smashed

and the Temple rebuilt so that the Israel stretching from Meroe to Damascus to the nuked remnants of the "Moon-worshippers'" Mecca can be converted so that Jayzus can come down on a pearly cloud and lift the Elect out of the world as it falls apart. LaHaye meets with Jack Chick.

[psychopomp]

3. All our so-called leaders

...whistling in the darkness.

[SandyUSA]

4. US attack on the Sahla Mosque is insane...

...or intentionally designed to cause the "clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West that the Bush neoconservatives are seeking.

The main point of division between the Sunnis and Shi'ites is over who were the legitimate successors of Muhammad. Sunnis opted for a system of leaders that were not direct descendents. Shi'ites believed in a family lineage. The 12th one in the series disappeared many centuries ago but is expected to return as The Mahdi (read Messiah to understand this in Western terms}. When you read about the Mehdi or Mahdi Army led by Moqtada al-Sadr, this young cleric may very well believe that he is rounding up forces to serve the miraculous reappearance of the Mahdi in this "endtime" era. Sistani and some of the older clerics are apparently not convinced that the time is now or that legions of Iraqis should die in this unequal confrontation with the US military. The article at the link already posted by "floda" says two very crucial items:

1}
OUTRAGE AT DAMAGE

"An estimated 20 Mehdi militia were killed after firing on coalition forces during a raid on the Sahla mosque in Kufa," a U.S. military spokesman said. There no reported U.S. casualties.

Staff at the main hospital in Najaf said they had taken in 14 dead and 37 wounded, mostly civilians.

About 100 Kufa residents gathered to inspect the damage.
"I feel humiliated," said Ali Wasi. "Our sanctity has been violated. These houses of prayer are the most valuable things we own, for Shi'ites. I will resist them until the last drop of blood in my body," he said, speaking in the mosque's courtyard.

2}
The offensive came hours after Sadr's chief aide in Najaf floated a vague truce offer for the two main holy cities, Najaf and Kerbala. U.S. civilian spokesman Dan Senor said Sadr must first give himself up on a murder charge and disband his force.

Kerbala, where there was heavy fighting Friday, was calm and there was no sign of guerrillas on the streets.

Ahmad al-Husseini, a Sadr spokesman and Mehdi Army commander in Kerbala, told Reuters the militia had withdrawn from the center of the city but were ready to fight if attacked. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has insisted in public that he has no differences on strategy with Washington.

---------

By US forces betraying the truce and actually violating the Sahla Mosque while killing civilians after the Mahdi army had pulled back, why should we expect either these Shi'ites or any Sunnis to back down and be tricked like this again?

[Karenina]

5. KICK!

:kick:

[maddezmom]

6. AFP : 20 Iraqis dead in mosque battle but political costs mount for Bush

~snip~
Witnesses described tanks smashing through the gates of the mosque as helicopters hovered overhead in what would be one of the biggest military operations by US-led forces on the outskirts of the Shiite holy city of Najaf.


The dead and 54 wounded were taken to two hospitals in Kufa, doctors said. The US military said there were no reports of coalition casualties.


"Tanks crashed through the gates of the mosque compound during the night and soldiers entered while helicopters hovered overhead," said Hussein Yasser, 32, who lives near the mosque. The fighting lasted about an hour, he added.


Blood, spent shells and tank tracks marked the ground of the mosque compound, while the walls were riddled with bullet holes.
~snip~
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1511&ncid=1511&e=2&u=/afp/20040523/wl_afp/iraq_worldwrap_040523114848

[Kagemusha]

7. So the US is "winning".

It's conquering mosques er... I mean, "strategic targets in the fighting against the Mehdi Army" and viewing any pullbacks as proof of military weakness and inability to sustain operations against the invincible American Army rather than, er... anything else.

Great. Just great.

[abracadabra]

8. these idiot military strategists are now sealing their fate-

they will be at a total disadvantage if the population interprets this disrespect to their ancient historic religious shrines as a Crusade against Islam.
Now there will be ZERO support for the occupiers and every single religious person will now do their best to take a shot at an American--
GREAT GOING RUMSFOOL !
Our troops are now history-
BRING ALL TROOPS HOME NOW!!
Let's stand up and demand it !!
The hell with Kerry
The hell with Bush
IT IS NOT WORTH IT!

[Just Me]

9. It becomes increasingly clear that the neocons seek to inflame,...

,...the situation in Iraq to serve their world at war agenda.

I simply cannot arrive at any other conclusion at this time.

This is utterly insane.

:argh:

[joanski01]

10. Could this be what General Meyers

meant when he said that as we get closer to June 30, the attacks will increase? He neglected to say that the US will cause them to increase. I am just so sick of all this killing. Will it ever stop???