Recently in Iraq Category

The West keeps trying wish into existence modern, moderate, model Islamic states in Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. It keeps not working as advertised. "Iraqi bill to ban travels to Israel," by Roi Kais for YNet News, January 30:

The Iraqi parliament is planning to pass a new bill banning Iraqis from traveling to Israel, Al Jazeera online reported Monday.

The bill was proposed following a number of incidents at the Bagdad airport. A local security officer working there said the passport had caught a number of Iraqi officials carrying passports with Israeli entry visas. The officer, speaking on a condition of anonymity, reported that the passports of some nine high-profile Iraqi politicians were clearly marked with Ben-Gurion Airport stamps as well.

According to the source, the politicians made their first trips to Israel after the Iraqi elections, held on January 2010, until around October that same year. The officer claimed that during questioning of the Iraqis, it was discovered that they were operating as envoys to Israel on behalf of Iraqi politicians.

In response to the report, Iraqi Parliament Member from the National Iraqi Alliance Mohammad Redha al-Khafaji declared that some 50 parliament members have already put their John Hancock [Irony -ed.] to a bill proposing to ban such trips to Israel. Khafaji emphasized that in the past, Iraqi senior officials had visited Israel secretly.

Meanwhile, a member of the parliament's judicial committee said these signatures do not necessarily mean that such a law should be passed.

Forbidding a citizen from traveling is against the Iraqis' right to freedom, as written in the constitution. However banning travel to Israel has nothing to do with politics, she told Al Jazeera, explaining that Iraq has never had any diplomatic or political relations with Israel, nor has it acknowledged the State of Israel.

One may argue it is against the constitution's guarantees of personal freedom, but the same constitution holds that no law may contradict Sharia. The spirit of the latter provision overrules the former.

Israel classifies Iraq, as well as most Arab countries, as an "enemy state." However, over the years senior Israeli officials have hinted on numerous occasions that despite having no official diplomatic relations with such countries, many times there are economical and security ties.

Across the world, one could argue that the world's biggest Islamophobes are Sunnis attacking Shi'ites, and vice-versa. Where's the outrage for that? "Dozens Killed in Attack on Iraqi Funeral Procession," by Sam Dagher and Ali A. Nabhan for the Wall Street Journal, January 27:

BAGHDAD—Dozens of people were killed and wounded when a suicide car bomber attacked a funeral procession in Baghdad on Friday, days after an al Qaeda-linked insurgent group warned it would step up its fight against Iraq's government, security forces and Shiite majority.

The suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a crowd that included the pallbearers at a funeral for an Iraqi army commander's brother, according to a Ministry of Interior official. The commander had been assassinated along with three other people on Thursday.

Friday's attack in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah on the capital's southeastern side left at least 31 people dead and another 60 wounded, according to the official.

The explosion happened in a congested section of the working class neighborhood near a hospital, an outdoor food market and an apartment building.

"I saw bodies strewn all over the place," said a witness. "The women fishmongers are all gone, not a single one is left."

Hours after the attack a fire truck was seen hosing down blood and debris at the scene as grieving families waited to receive the bodies of their loved ones from the hospital for burial.

In a separate attack before nightfall, a roadside bomb planted next to an outdoor soccer field in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliya in western Baghdad killed one person and wounded three, according to the Ministry of Interior official. There was no claim of responsibility for Friday's attacks.

The attacks came after a warning earlier this week of more violence from a group linked to al Qaeda in Iraq.

"Today we have retaken the initiative attacking and appearing whenever and wherever we please," said a man identifying himself as Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq, in an audio message posted online this week. The group is typically described as a front for al Qaeda in Iraq. The authenticity of the recording couldn't be independently verified.

Iraq has seen a significant increase over the past few weeks in suicide bombings, the type of violence usually associated with al Qaeda-linked militants.

The Islamic State of Iraq, which was significantly weakened in recent years following the deaths and capture of many of its leaders, appears to be exploiting the end of the U.S. military mission in Iraq last month, the Iraqi government's distraction by a political crisis and a rise in sectarian tensions. The group's goal is to establish a fundamentalist Sunni Islamic state in Iraq. It considers the country's Shiite majority apostates....

And apostates are lawful for slaughter under Islamic law. By the same principle by which Shi'ite Iran wants to execute a Christian pastor who left Islam, al-Qaeda in Iraq wants to execute Shi'ites.

"There's still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that." - Condoleezza Rice, January 2007.

Still waiting? Hope you brought a book. "Bomb Kills at Least 53 Pilgrims in South Iraq," by Nabil al-Jurani for the Associated Press, January 14:

A bomb killed at least 53 Shiite pilgrims near the southern port city of Basra on Saturday, an Iraqi official said. It was the latest in a series of attacks during Shiite religious commemorations that have killed scores of people and threaten to further increase sectarian tensions just weeks after the U.S. withdrawal.

Why are they tense? Do they need a spa day?

The attack happened on the last of the 40 days of Arbaeen, when hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims from Iraq and abroad visit the Iraqi city of Karbala, as well as other holy sites.

Saturday's blast occurred near the town of Zubair as pilgrims marched toward the Shiite Imam Ali shrine on the outskirts of the town, said Ayad al-Emarah, a spokesman for the governor of Basra province. The shrine is an enclave within an enclave -- a Shiite site on the edge of a mostly Sunni town in an otherwise mostly Shiite province.

There were conflicting reports on the source of the blast.

Al-Emarah said the explosion was caused either by a suicide attacker or a roadside bomb. But an Iraqi military intelligence officer who is investigating the attack said it was a roadside bomb, noting that the road from Basra to Zubair being used by pilgrims had been closed to traffic. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief the media....

On December 20, I wrote: "Just days after the jihad mob attack on Christian-owned businesses and churches, three bombs exploded in a crowd celebrating the Shi’ite feast of Ashura, murdering twenty-two. That attack will most likely be avenged before too long, and bloodily..." Could this be one manifestation of that revenge?

"Iraq attacks kill five policemen, town mayor," by Bassim al-Anbari for AFP, January 12 (thanks to Twostellas):

RAMADI, Iraq — Gun attacks in Baghdad and predominantly Sunni west Iraq on Wednesday left five policemen and a town mayor dead, security and medical officials said.

The violence comes three weeks after US troops completed their withdrawal from Iraq, with the country locked in a political standoff that has raised sectarian tensions.

In Wednesday's deadliest attack, insurgents attacked a police station near the Syrian border early in the morning and killed three policemen, including a captain, according to police and a medic.

Police killed one of the gunmen who carried out the attack in the town of Al-Qaim, in mostly Sunni Anbar province west of Baghdad, and wounded another. A third escaped.

"Three police -- two policemen and a captain -- were killed when several armed men attacked the police station at about 3:00 am (0000 GMT)," said police Captain Mohanned Mukhlif Hamadi.

"The attack was followed by clashes between policemen at the station and the attackers. One of the gunmen was killed and another wounded, but one escaped."...

Also in Anbar province, gunmen murdered the mayor of Heet, 170 kilometres (105 miles) west of Baghdad, as he was leaving the mosque, police said.

Saeed Hamdan Ghazal, who had just completed evening prayers, was shot dead by attackers on a motorcycle who then fled the scene, two police officials said.

Ghazal was killed instantly, according to a police spokesman and Iyada al-Nimrawi, the town's deputy police chief.

Anbar province was home to a violent Sunni Arab insurgency in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, one that only abated after Sunni tribes sided with the US military against Al-Qaeda from late 2006 onwards.

In Baghdad, gunmen armed with silenced pistols killed two policemen in the Baghdad Jadidah (new Baghdad) neighbourhood in the capital's east, officials from the ministries of interior and defence said.

The victims were working in the Iraqi police's anti-terror department and were in an unmarked civilian car, the officials said....

Best buds

I've been predicting this since at least 2006: the chief beneficiary of our misguided Wilsonian adventure in Iraq is Iran.

June 27, 2006: "Of course, Ahmadinejad may be jumping the gun a bit as far as that is concerned, but he is certainly doing all he can to bring into being a Shi'ite client state in Iraq."

September 13, 2006: "Here we see looming in Iraq the Shi'ite client state of Iran that the U.S. has unwittingly helped put into place with its short-sighted democracy project."

October 31, 2006: "Is al-Maliki on the road to creating the Shi'ite client state that the Iranians have been trying to foster in Iraq for quite some time now?"

February 11, 2007: "Iran continues its efforts to create a Shi'ite client state in Iraq."

June 10, 2008: "Or are U.S. troops the main obstacle to Iraq's becoming a full-fledged client state of Iran?"

November 12, 2008: "Very soon now the President of the United States and the President of Iran will sit down, without preconditions, and hash this out, and clear everything up before Iraq turns fully into the Shi'ite client state that the Iranians covet."

July 1, 2009: "Their goal of creating a Shi'ite client state is closer than ever to being realized."

July 30, 2009: "Was this what we have been fighting for in Iraq all these years? An Iranian Shi'ite client state in Baghdad?"

"Political Role for Militants Worsens Fault Lines in Iraq," by Jack Healy and Michael S. Schmidt for The New York Times, January 5:

BAGHDAD — It was one of the deadliest insurgent groups in Iraq in recent years, an Iranian-backed militia that bombed American military convoys and bases, assassinated dozens of Iraqi officials and tried to kidnap Americans even as the last soldiers withdrew.

But now the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is welcoming the militant group into Iraq’s political system, a move that could tilt the nation’s center of gravity closer to Iran. The government’s support for the militia, which only just swore off violence, has opened new sectarian fault lines in Iraq’s political crisis while potentially empowering Iran at a moment of rising military and economic tensions between Tehran and Washington.

The militant group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, broke away from the fierce Shiite militia commanded by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who has strong ties to Tehran. The American military has long maintained that the group, led by a former spokesman for Mr. Sadr, Qais al-Khazali, was trained and financed by Iran’s elite Quds Force — something that Iran denies.

Since the American military withdrawal last month, Iraq has been convulsed with waves of attacks that have raised concerns about its political stability. On Thursday, bombings killed at least 68 people, including 44 Shiite pilgrims in a single attack in the southern deserts near Nasiriya. With that backdrop of violence, the Iraqi government can plausibly claim that its overtures to the group are an earnest attempt to make peace with a powerful armed foe while nudging the country closer to a much-needed national reconciliation.

Thousands of other militants, both Sunni and Shiite, have cut deals with the government to stop fighting, and few officials see a meaningful peace in Iraq that does not include reconciling with armed groups. On Thursday, Asaib Ahl al-Haq made another conciliatory gesture, saying it would release the body of a British bodyguard, Alan McMenemy, who was kidnapped in 2007 with four others, only one of whom was released alive.

Yet, critics worry that Mr. Maliki, facing fierce new challenges to his leadership from Sunnis and even his fellow Shiites, may now be making a cynical and shortsighted play for Asaib’s support. They say Mr. Maliki may use the group’s credentials as Shiite resistance fighters to divide challengers in his own Shiite coalition and weaken Mr. Sadr’s powerful bloc, which draws its political lifeblood from the Shiite underclass.

By doing so, Iraq’s government could embolden a militia with an almost nonexistent track record of peace while potentially handing Tehran greater influence in a country where the United States spent billions of dollars and lost nearly 4,500 American soldiers in nearly nine years of war.

“I think it is a dangerous step, this move by the government, to join with groups that do not believe in the peaceful political process,” said Osama al-Nujaifi, the speaker of Iraq’s Parliament and a Sunni Arab. “They use the political with one hand and military forces with the other hand.”

Moreover, some American and Iraqi officials are leery about whether Asaib Ahl al-Haq — the name translates as League of the Righteous — is truly ready to forswear violence, especially with thousands of American diplomats and security contractors still in the country. Mr. Maliki’s recent attempts to marginalize the country’s Sunni minority and consolidate power have amplified their fears and, not coincidentally, precipitated a political crisis.

“They have blood on their hands, and it’s not just American blood,” a senior United States military official said of Asaib Ahl al-Haq. “I am all for forgiveness and reconciliation, but they are — and I think always will be — beholden to their masters in Iran.”

In June, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and other militias said to be backed by Iran conducted rocket attacks on American bases that resulted in the deaths of 13 soldiers, making the month the worst for combat-related deaths for United States forces in Iraq since 2008. Military officials also said the group was responsible for the last American combat death in Iraq, a November roadside bomb attack in Baghdad.

“It’s not a good sign that Maliki is so keen to work with a group that has been responsible for the deaths of many Americans,” said Marisa Cochrane Sullivan, deputy director at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington and an expert on Asaib Ahl al-Haq. “A.A.H. having a prominent role in the government is not in the interest of the United States.”...

No kidding, really? This keen analysis is why Marisa Cochrane Sullivan makes the big bucks.

Mr. Maliki’s government has avoided any overt pledges to support the group in Iraq’s next elections. “We welcome those who want to join the political process and give up their weapons, no matter whether they are Sunni or Shiite,” said Hassan al-Suneid, a lawmaker from Mr. Maliki’s State of Law coalition.

American officials made efforts to bring a disarmed Asaib Ahl al-Haq into Iraq’s government as early as 2009, even releasing Mr. Khazali, and his brother, Laith, from prison.

“Khazali was telling us when he was being interrogated that they were ready to lay down their arms,” said a Western diplomat, referring to the group’s founder. “We released those guys, and they went back to Iran and didn’t exactly lay down their arms.”

And you believed him. "Idiot" is not strong enough a word for you.

At an officially sanctioned rally last week in central Baghdad, hundreds of the group’s members and supporters gathered in a public square that was previously the stage for pro-democracy demonstrations. For hours, they celebrated the insurgents who fought American troops in Iraq, waving banners and screening triumphal videos of their deadly attacks on American Humvees, tanks and convoys.

Standing in front of Asaib’s emblem — a hand making a two-fingered peace sign flanked by silhouetted insurgents — Mr. Khazali praised the Iraqis who had spilled blood fighting American forces, and said that the insurgents had forced the American withdrawal....

“We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people.” -- Obama

"Nothing appears likelier in Iraq’s future than more jihadist persecution of Christians and other religious minorities, more Sunni-Shi’ite jihad, and more jockeying for power by Iran as it continues its jihad to become the leader of the Islamic world." -- Spencer

Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad Update: "Attacks targeting Shiites kill 72 in Iraq," by Sameer N. Yacoub for the Associated Press, January 4:

BAGHDAD (AP) — A wave of bombings targeting Shiites in Iraq killed 72 people on Thursday, deepening sectarian tensions that exploded just after the last American troops left the country in mid-December.

The coordinated attacks targeting Shiites bore the hallmarks of Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaida, although there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The bombings began early in the morning when explosions struck two Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, killing at least 27 people. A few hours later, a suicide attack hit Shiite pilgrims heading to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, killing 45, said provincial official Quosay al-Abadi. The explosions took place near Nasiriyah, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. Hospital officials confirmed the causalities.

The blasts occurred in the run-up to Arbaeen, a Shiite holy day which marks the end of 40 days of mourning that follow the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, a revered Shiite figure. During this time, Shiite pilgrims from across Iraq make their way to Karbala, south of Baghdad....

Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government issued an arrest warrant for the country's top Sunni politician last month. The Sunni official, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, is holed up in Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region in the north — effectively out of reach of state security forces.

Fears have already been running high that the sectarian tensions could re-ignite Shiite-Sunni warfare that just a few years ago pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

The attacks began in Baghdad with the explosion of a bomb attached to a motorcycle near a bus stop where day laborers gather to look for work in the Shiite Sadr City neighborhood. One of those who witnessed the attack said it filled the area with thick black smoke....

That attack was followed by the explosion of a roadside bomb. Police found a third bomb nearby and defused it.

The two Sadr City blasts killed 12 people, according to police and medical officials.

Less than two hours later, two explosions rocked the Shiite neighborhood of Kazimiyah in the north of the capital, killing 15 people.

Officials said the Kazimiyah blasts occurred almost simultaneously, with at least one caused by a car bomb. Simultaneous explosions are a tactic frequently used by the Sunni insurgents against Shiites....

The attacks were the deadliest in Baghdad since Dec. 22, when a series of blasts killed 69 people in mostly Shiite neighborhoods. An al-Qaida front group in Iraq claimed responsibility for those attacks....

As I quoted Obama in my recent Human Events column: "As he closed the door on American military involvement in Iraq, Barack Obama said: “Everything that American troops have done in Iraq—all the fighting, all the dying, the bleeding and the building and the training and the partnering—all of it has landed to this moment of success....Iraq’s not a perfect place. It has many challenges ahead. But we’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people.”

"Midnight Masses canceled in Iraq because of growing security concerns," from the Catholic News Service, December 23 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

LONDON (CNS) -- Chaldean Catholic officials have canceled traditional Christmas Eve midnight Masses because of security risks.

Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk in northern Iraq told the agency Aid to the Church in Need that Christians will spend Christmas in "great fear" because of the risk of new attacks.

All services and Masses have been scheduled for daylight hours, he said in an interview with Rome-based AsiaNews.

"Midnight Christmas Mass has been canceled in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk as a consequence of the never-ending assassinations of Christians," he said, citing the Oct. 31, 2010, attack on the Syrian Catholic cathedral that left 57 people dead in the Iraqi capital.

Archbishop Sako also expressed concern over the growing conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims vying for political power. He said the conflict has led to growing instability, especially in the days since the pullout of U.S. military troops in mid-December....

Just days ago I wrote in Human Events: "Nothing appears likelier in Iraq’s future than more jihadist persecution of Christians and other religious minorities, more Sunni-Shi’ite jihad, and more jockeying for power by Iran as it continues its jihad to become the leader of the Islamic world."

Meanwhile, Iyad Allawi apparently expected that the Americans would stay in Iraq indefinitely, cleaning up all the messes of sectarian and ethnic strife and political jockeying. But Sunni/Shi'ite and Arab/Kurd enmity are a lot older than the United States, and would never have been eradicated by the U.S., even if we stayed there 1000 years.

"Wave of bombings across Baghdad kills 60," by Qassim Abdul-Zahra for the Associated Press, December 22 (thanks to all who sent this in):

BAGHDAD (AP) — A wave of at least 14 bombings ripped across Baghdad Thursday morning, killing at least 60 people in the worst violence in Iraq for months. The apparently coordinated attacks struck days after the last American forces left the country and in the midst of a major government crisis between Shiite and Sunni politicians that has sent sectarian tensions soaring.

The bombings may be linked more to the U.S. withdrawal than the political crisis, but all together, the developments heighten fears of a new round of Shiite-Sunni sectarian bloodshed like the one a few years back that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the bombings bore all the hallmarks of al Qaeda’s Sunni insurgents. Most appeared to hit Shiite neighborhoods, although some Sunni areas were also targeted. In all, 11 neighborhoods were hit by either car bombs, roadside blasts or sticky bombs attached to cars. There was at least one suicide bombing and the blasts went off over several hours.

The deadliest attack was in the Karrada neighborhood, where a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden vehicle blew himself up outside the office of a government agency fighting corruption. Two police officers at the scene said the bomber was driving an ambulance and told guards that he needed to get to a nearby hospital. After the guards let him through, he drove to the building where he blew himself up, the officers said....

Because such a large-scale, coordinated attack likely took weeks to plan, and the political crisis erupted only few days ago, the violence was not likely a direct response to the tensions within the government. Also, al Qaeda opposed Sunni cooperation in the Shiite-dominated government in the first place and is not aligned with Sunni politicians.

The Sunni extremist group often attacks Shiites, who they believe are not true Muslims....

"Ex-Iraqi PM accuses US of leaving job unfinished," from MSNBC, December 22 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

A leading Iraqi politician has accused the country's prime minister of acting like Saddam Hussein in trying to silence opposition, saying he risks provoking a new fightback against dictatorship.

Iyad Allawi -- a former prime minister who leads the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc -- also claimed the United States had pulled out its troops "without completing the job they should have finished."

Allawi said that the current premier, Nuri al-Maliki, had used fabricated confessions to demand the arrest of the country's Sunni Muslim vice president, Tareq al-Hashemi.

Al-Hashemi, who has taken refuge in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, denies allegations he ordered bombings and shootings against his opponents. The move against him, on the very day U.S. troops left the country, threatens to upset a balance among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

Speaking to Reuters two days after the final departure of the U.S. forces that ended Saddam's Sunni-dominated rule, Allawi called for international efforts to prevent al-Maliki, who is a Shiite, from provoking renewed sectarian warfare of the kind that killed tens of thousands in the years after Saddam fell in 2003.

"This is terrifying, to bring fabricated confessions," Allawi said shortly before leaving the Jordanian capital Amman to return to Iraq. "It reminds me personally of what Saddam Hussein used to do where he would accuse his political opponents of being terrorists and conspirators."...

He said he would now try to unseat the prime minister in the legislature: "We have to make a move to bring about stability to the country by trying to find a substitute to Maliki through parliament," said Allawi, who repeated allegations that Shiite Iran is seeking control in Iraq now that U.S. forces have left....

In Human Events this morning I discuss what's next for Iraq now that we have expended our blood and treasure for so many years in a foredoomed attempt to turn it into New Jersey:

As he closed the door on American military involvement in Iraq, Barack Obama said: “Everything that American troops have done in Iraq—all the fighting, all the dying, the bleeding and the building and the training and the partnering—all of it has landed to this moment of success.” He avoided declaring victory outright, but he did say: “Iraq’s not a perfect place. It has many challenges ahead. But we’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people.”

At the beginning of December in that stable and self-reliant Iraq with a representative government, I received a chilling message from an Assyrian Christian in Iraqi Kurdistan. He wrote: “Today after Friday prayers, Muslim Kurds in Zakho (near Dohuk) attacked and besieged liquor shops, salons, hotels, massages that are owned by Christians. The security didn’t do anything and the rampage has continued till now!” Several hours later he wrote again: “The attacks haven’t stopped, and I just got the word that they are attacking a Catholic Diocesan office. The security is standing still and watching as I am writing this to you. Christian homes are being fired upon as well.”

As captured on video, the Muslim mob shouted “Allahu akbar,” “jihad” and anti-Christian slogans as it rampaged. One Christian liquor storeowner reported that the mob did half a million U.S. dollars’ worth of damage to his businesses—and stole $300,000 from his safe. Another Christian sent me pictures of a small club, destroyed in a fire the mob set, and explained: “This was a small social club for us Christians that we spend our nights. As you see, we live very poorly and humbly. They had no reason to attack us. All we want is to enjoy a beer after a hard day of work. Is that too much to ask? Are Muslim minorities in the West treated like this?”

No, they aren’t, but with all the media hand-wringing about “Islamophobia,” and Hillary Clinton’s closed-door meeting with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation last week to discuss strategies on how to outlaw criticism of Islam in a society that ostensibly protects the freedom of speech, one might be forgiven for getting the idea that Muslims in the U.S. were living in a virtual state of siege. The only besieged people are actually Christians and other non-Muslims in places such as the new, stable and self-reliant Iraq and the new, democratic “Arab Spring” Egypt.

The plight of Christians in Iraq is just one aspect of the chaos we leave behind there. In April 2003, when U.S. troops had been in Iraq for less than two weeks, I wrote in Insight in the News that the “primary opponents” of democratic government in Iraq would be those who held “that no government has any legitimacy unless it obeys the Sharia. Even if they lose in the short run, they will not disappear as long as there are people who take the Koran and Islamic tradition seriously. And that spells trouble for any genuine democracy.”

That has proven true. Post-American Iraq is dominated by Islamic hardline factions, each vying to impose its vision of Sharia upon its recalcitrant fellow countrymen. Just days after the jihad mob attack on Christian-owned businesses and churches, three bombs exploded in a crowd celebrating the Shi’ite feast of Ashura, murdering twenty-two....

A power play by the Shi'ite majority, or something more? "Tension rise as Iraq seeks Sunni VP arrest," by Rania El Gamal for Reuters, December 19:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities issued an arrest warrant for Sunni Muslim Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi on Monday for suspected ties to assassinations and bombings, a decision likely to fuel sectarian tensions after the U.S. troop withdrawal. The move risks unraveling Iraq's fragile power-sharing deal among Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs who have struggled to overcome tensions just a few years after sectarian slaughter drove the country to the edge of a civil war.

Interior Ministry spokesman, Major General Adel Daham, told a news conference confessions by suspects identified as Hashemi's bodyguards linked the vice president to killings and attacks on Iraqi government and security officials.

"An arrest warrant was issued for Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi according to Article 4 of the terrorism law and is signed by five judges... this warrant should be executed," Daham said, waving a copy of the document in front of reporters.

The political struggle between Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his Sunni rivals in the country's delicate power-sharing deal has intensified during the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops nearly nine years after the invasion.

The ministry showed taped confessions, aired on state-run Iraqiya television and other local media, of men it claimed were members of Hashemi's security detail. The men said they had been paid by his office to carry out killings.

The three men shown on television detailed the assassinations they were told to carry out by Hashemi's aides including planting roadside bombs and driveby shootings of security and government officials.

One man said he was handed $3,000 as a reward by Hashemi himself.

But the identity of the men could not be independently confirmed. Hashemi, who could not be contacted for a response, was in Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous enclave in the north, Kurdish political sources said. Kurdistan has its own government and security forces, making Hashemi's immediate arrest unlikely.

In a statement earlier on Monday, Hashemi accused Maliki's government of "deliberate harassment" after his plane was delayed for three hours at Baghdad airport. He had been heading for the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya to meet the Iraqi president.

Security forces arrested three Hashemi bodyguards on their way back from the airport, the statement said, adding military forces surrounding Hashemi's house for weeks had been beefed up.

"The vice-president has been very patient and is waiting for a reasonable explanation from the government parties concerned," the statement said.

Fearing a deepening crisis that could push Iraq back into sectarian turmoil, senior Iraqi politicians were holding talks with Maliki and other leaders to contain the dispute....

A Christian businessman recounts how Muslim teachers told their students to destroy churches and Christian businesses. Previous Jihad Watch coverage here, with links there also to earlier posts.

"A Christian Businessman Recalls Zakho Riots," by Sulaiman Alikhan and Kawar Barwari for Rudaw, December 18 (thanks to Nahro Farid):

DUHOK, Iraqi Kurdistan -- Fahmi Yusef Mansour is the owner of Iraq’s biggest beer supply in the village of Seji near Duhok city in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Mansour’s beer storage was stormed and torched by an angry mob during the riots in the province earlier this month.

Following Friday sermons people in the cit [sic] of Zakho attacked liquor stores, massage parlors and hotels.

Mansour, a Christian, said he had received messages threatening to burn down his business. He said he had informed the local mayor and security officials about the threats, but was reassured that nothing would happen.

“We also did not expect anything to happen because this is a Christian place and there are no Muslims,” Mansour told Rudaw.

Mansour was in Dohuk the day his store was attacked. He rushed back and tried to protect his business with the help of some relatives carrying guns. According to Mansour around 2,000 people, the majority of them teenagers had attacked his beer storage.

Mansour believes some school teachers are responsible for instigating the young people against Christians.

“Many teachers encourage student [sic] to oppose Christians and their places of worship,” he said, adding that a number of teenage students had thrown stones at the local church.

Two students detained by the security forces have allegedly confessed that their teacher had incited them to attack the church.

“This kind of culture did not exist in Kurdistan’s society and should not be allowed,” said Mansour.

Mansour maintained that his businesses sustained approximately half a million dollars of losses in addition to US$ 300,000 stolen from his safe.

Liquor stores are mainly owned by Duhok province’s Christian families. According to Mansour the livelihood of around 500 Christian and Muslim families who rely on the liquor business was affected by the riots....

An update on this story. "Iraqi pleads guilty to trying to kill US troops," from Reuters, December 16:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Iraqi living in Kentucky pleaded guilty on Friday to charges that he tried to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq, aided al Qaeda operatives there and taught how to make roadside bombs, the Justice Department said.

Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, pleaded guilty to a 23-count indictment in a federal court in Kentucky - a case that drew harsh criticism from Republicans in the U.S. Congress who argued that such terrorism suspects should be tried in military courts at the American military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The Obama administration rebuffed such demands, countering that federal courts also can handle major terrorism cases.

"The successful investigation, arrest, interrogation and prosecution of Mr. Alwan demonstrates the effectiveness of our intelligence and law enforcement authorities in bringing terrorists to justice," Lisa Monaco, the head of the Justice Department's national security division, said in a statement.

Alwan was accused of taking part in roadside bomb attacks on U.S. troops between 2003 and 2006, linked in one such instance by fingerprints obtained by U.S. forces from a device that did not detonate.

The FBI started investigating him in September 2009 and nearly a year later began using a confidential source to talk with him about his activities in Iraq, which allegedly included using improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs, and sniper rifles to target U.S. troops.

During conversations with the source, Alwan said he worked at a power plant but often hid roadside bombs, according to court papers filed earlier this year. He also allegedly boasted of attacking Hummers and Bradley fighting vehicles.

He and a second Iraqi, Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, also were charged for allegedly trying to provide support and weapons to an al Qaeda affiliate in Iraq in a sting operation subsequently run by U.S. authorities.

Hammadi has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The two Iraqis entered the United States in 2009 after receiving refugee status. They were arrested in May in their hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Refugee Iraqis from their hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky? Did we miss something about the space-time continuum?

Alwan faces at least 25 years and up to life in a U.S. prison under the plea agreement and he is scheduled to be sentenced on April 3.

With incidents like this happening with increasing frequency in Iraq, as well as in Egypt and Pakistan, how can the mainstream media and Islamic supremacist spokesmen in the West wring their hands about "Islamophobia" and sleep at night? Innocent Muslims are not being victimized in the West. In reality, non-Muslims are being victimized in Muslim countries -- by Muslims acting upon what they read in the Qur'an and Hadith.

"News: Gunmen Kill Christian Couple in Mosul," by Nahro Farid for Ishtartv.com, December 14:

Mosul - A number of gunmen shot and killed a Christian couple as they were walking towards their car on Tuesday night in the restive city of Mosul.

Adnan Elia, 34 an owner of jewelry shop, and his wife Raghad, 25 were walking to their car in the Tammuz 17 neighborhood as assailants shot the two who died instantly on the scene. Their two children were hurt but are still alive....

The incident comes as the chief of police of the Nineveh province told journalist this week that his department has received information on a plot against the Christian minority in Mosul during the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays.

This follows the anti-Christian owned business riots in the northern region of Kurdistan last week, where rioters burned down a number of liquor stores, salons, hotels and parlous.

Mosul's Christian communities have faced many attacks since 2003 that has led to the dwindling of their population from 120,000 prior to the Iraq war to 5,000, according to Church officials.

Our friend in Iraq who first alerted us to this story has sent more reports, and an image of the threat being sent to Christians in Zakho:

It reads: "If anyone decides to reopen his store, we will kill him."

Jihad causes poverty. Is it "Islamophobic" to notice your store is on fire, when the attackers chant "Allahu akbar?" An update on this story. "Update on the Dohuk Riots," from Ishtar Broadcasting Corporation, December 5:

Dohuk- The following is a timeline of the Dohuk riots that began on December 2.

December 2 Targets
- 30 liquor stores, 4 hotels, 1 massage parlor, a number of hair salons, cafeterias and a Catholic diocese in Zakho.
- The Assyrian Nohadra Social Club in Dohuk was attacked by a mob of - 200 people and cost damages worth 50,000 dollars
- The Yezidi Health Club in Dohuk
- The Wan Restaurant in Semel
- A bar and a tourist hotel in Zawita that led to the arrest of 32 people.

December 3 Targets
- A group of 100 local Islamist attacked the Assyrian Saint Daniel Church and many Christian homes in Mansouriyah early in the morning. Locals claim young students were instigated by teachers.
- Homes in the village of Sheoz

December 4 Targets
- Three liquor shops were set on fire by a mob of 20 in the Assyrian village of Deralok
- A liquor store was shot with an automatic weapon in Dohuk

December 5 Targets
- Liquor Shops burned down by mobs in Koy Sanjaq
- Massage parlor burned in Sulaymaniyah
- Previously burned liquor shops in Zakho were pasted with flyers threatening to kill any shop owner that decides to reopen

More: "Violence in Iraq targets Shiite pilgrims and Christian stores," from Asia News, December 6:

Death toll of three separate attacks in Baghdad and Hilla, against the Shia community that celebrates the festival of Ashura, rises to 30. Several women and children among the dead. Even attacks on Christian activities in the north. Threatening letters to Baghdad businesses. AsiaNews sources: campaign targeting anything that goes "against Shariah." [...]

On December 2 ... Islamic extremists targeted Christian shops and activities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq: in Zakho, 470 miles from Baghdad, near the border with Turkey, a fundamentalist group incited by the local imam’s sermon devastated dozens of liquor stores, a hotel and massage centres, injuring at least 30 people. The attacks have continued even in the following days in Dohok, where three shops and a community centre belonging to Chaldean Christians were burnt.

Christian sources for AsiaNews, anonymous for security reasons, add that "in Baghdad liquor stores are subject to threats", the managers have received threatening letters, which state that the exercise [sic] "will be blown up." The attacks are the result of a "campaign" that targets "all that is contrary to Shariah," promoted by Islamists who want to radicalize the country. Unfortunately, the source adds, there is no "moderate movement" capable of containing the fundamentalist drift. "The attacks against Christians in the north - warns the Christian personality - are well prepared and have a purpose: to warn the Kurds against supporting the Syrian resistance." Once again, the Christian community, is an "easy target", a victim of those with higher interest in the "game for the conquest of power."

"There's still a tendency to see these things in Sunni-Shia terms. But the Middle East is going to have to overcome that." - Condoleezza Rice, January 2007.

"Bombs targeting pilgrims kill 22 in Iraq's Hilla," from Reuters, December 5:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Three bombs tore through crowds of Shi'ite pilgrims celebrating a major ritual in Iraq's Hilla city on Monday, killing least 22 - mostly women and children - and wounding 60 more, local police and witnesses said.

The attacks, at the height of Ashura, which commemorates the death of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein and defines Shi'ite Islam, underscored Iraq's fragile security as the last U.S. troops withdraw from the country by the end of the year.

Whose prophet?

In the first attack, a car bomb blasted the end of one Shi'ite procession, killing 16 mainly women and children, wounding 45 others and leaving bloody pools, shoes and tore clothes scattered across the street, police and witnesses said.

"A powerful and horrible explosion went off behind us, smoke filled the area," said Hadi al-Mamouri, who was taking part in the ritual. "I could only hear the screams of women and I could only see the bodies of women and children on the street."

A second attack involving two roadside bombs killed at least six more people at another procession in Hilla and wounded 15 more, police sources said....

This story is unusual in that it attributes the violence to the "fiery sermons" that the rioters heard. No mention is made (of course) of the fact that the sermons were Islamic and preached in mosques, but that is clear enough from the context. And so for one of the first times ever, Associated Press admits that preaching violence and hate leads people to commits acts of violence and hatred.

Of course, the Left and Islamic supremacists are quick to blame people who have never preached violence and hatred for a madman's act of violence, but their agenda is clear: they're just trying to destroy all those who stand in the way of the jihad and the Islamic supremacist societal agenda. Thus they will never acknowledge their inconsistency in scapegoating people who have never advocated violence for violence they had nothing to do with, while absolving again and again people who do advocate violence for the mayhem that results.

This story is an update on the Iraqi riots that we covered previously here, here, here, and here.

Will there be any discussion in the mainstream media or among policymakers, or among law enforcement officials, for that matter, of the ongoing problem of how Islamic clerics incite Muslims to violence, and what can be done about it? Of course not!

Note also: the Islamic supremacist thugs targeted liquor stores, as is clear from the photo above. They did so because Islam forbids alcohol. Do liquor manufacturers, liquor store owners, bar owners, etc., in the West think that they will be spared as Sharia continues to advance? On what basis do they think so? Because the Muslims here have never done such a thing? Because the Muslims here are different, and don't believe the things that led these Muslims to riot? These are false assumptions, based on nothing but wishful thinking. As the Muslim presence continues to grow in the U.S. and elsewhere in the West, we will start seeing things like this happening with increasing frequency.

I tried to tell you.

"Sermons spark riots in Iraqi Kurdish city," from AP, December 3 (thanks to Kenneth):

BAGHDAD (AP) — Rioters attacked liquor stores, a massage parlor and hotels after being stirred up by fiery sermons in a predominantly Kurdish city in north Iraq, police officials said Saturday. Pro-government crowds then attacked Islamist party offices in retaliation, they said.

Thirty people including 20 policemen were reported injured in the rampage, which followed Friday midday prayers in the town of Zakho, some 300 miles northwest of Baghdad. Zakho lies within the territory controlled by Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government.

Some 30 liquor stores, four hotels, and a massage parlor in and around the city near the Turkish border were ransacked, set on fire or otherwise damaged, they said....

Here are more photos of the expression of Islamic piety in Iraqi Kurdistan Friday. After Friday prayers, Muslim mobs promptly misunderstood Islam: they left mosques and ransacked Christian-owned liquor stores and other businesses. I am sure the mainstream media reports will be along presently to tell us that this has nothing to do with Islam.

Of course -- in case anyone doesn't realize -- to say that this mob of savages misunderstood Islam is sarcasm. The mob didn't misunderstand Islam at all. Clearly they were acting upon what they heard in the khutba, the Friday sermon. They stormed out of the mosque and took vengeance against Christians they regarded as "spreading corruption in the land" (cf. Qur'an 5:33).

These photos were sent to me by the same Iraqi reader who has been sending us regular reports (earlier coverage, including more photos and video, here, here, and here). These photos come courtesy Ankawa.com here and here.

The savages in question were (as you can see from the video here) well-dressed, happy about their work, and completely untroubled by the prospect of law enforcement resistance. Here is an update on this story: the Iraqi reader who sent me the video writes this today about the photos above:

This was a small social club for us Christians that we spend our nights. As you see, we live very poorly and humbly. They had no reason to attack us. All we want is to enjoy a beer after a hard day of work. Is that too much to ask? Are Muslim minority in the West treated like this?

The photos above are from IshtarTV.com, and there are many more photos there.

"The fundamentalist wrath was unleashed by the vitriolic sermon of an imam in the local mosque, after which punitive raids were launched across the city."

More on the story about which we received eyewitness reports yesterday as the violence was ongoing. Will the imam or the participants in the rampage face any meaningful consequences? "Zakho, Iraqi Islamic extremists attack Christian-owned shops and properties," from Asia News, December 3 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Baghdad (AsiaNews) - A group of protesters linked to the Islamic extremist wing, composed mostly of young people, yesterday stormed several Christian-owned shops, a hotel and a beauty parlour. The violence erupted yesterday afternoon in the town of Zakho, about 470 km from Baghdad, Iraqi Kurdistan located a few kilometers from the border with Turkey, and caused the wounding of at least 30 people, including 20 policemen. The fundamentalist wrath was unleashed by the vitriolic sermon of an imam in the local mosque, after which punitive raids were launched across the city. Pro-government Kurdish factions have already responded to the onslaught of the xtremist [sic] groups, who burned at least six sites of the Islamic Party of Kurdistan in the city and surrounding areas.

A video posted on YouTube, shows the assault against Christian shops and properties. Local Christian sources interviewed by AsiaNews - anonymous for security reasons - were involved in the raid confirm that "hundreds of people, especially young people" destroyed "at least 13 liquor shops, but the number could reach 30. Witnesses added that "the police did not react" and it is likely that "the assault was pre-planned." The extremist crowd, that carried out the attack in Zakho, then headed for Sumaili - town 15 km from Dohuk, the third largest Kurdish city - where once again exercises owned by Christians and Yazidis were targeted.

In Sumaili, said the source for AsiaNews, there are at least 200 Christian families who are now terrified. The violence continued in the Christian village of Shiuz, where 180 families live, and " the Kurdish police intervened to restore calm only two hours later ". "The extremist crowd - he adds - chanted jihad, or holy war, and anti-Christian slogans."

The Christian community in the region experienced a day of panic and terror at the hands of extremists and abandoned by local authorities. "These events - warns the source - lead to the faithful fleeing their native lands. In Mosul, Kirkuk and Baghdad, the police took steps to protect churches and places of worship. "

Iraqi Kurdistan has long been the center of a bitter conflict between Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen for control of the lands and oil fields that surround it, the dispute also involves the Christian minority, who are victims of violence and vendettas. Iraqi Christian figures confirm that fundamentalist Islam - after the initial auspices related to "Arab Spring", which led to a cautious optimism - has become "much more aggressive and dangerous for non-Muslims."

I just received this email from a reader in Iraq:

Subject: Muslims attacked our liquor shops, salons, hotels

Message: Hello, I'm an Assyrian in Iraq. Today after Friday prayers, Muslim Kurds in Zakho (near Dohuk) attacked and besieged liquor shops, salons, hotels, massages that are owned by Christians. The security didn't do anything and the rampage has continued til now! You won't see this news in the media.

Indeed not. But you will see it at Jihad Watch.

UPDATE 1:23PM PST: I just received this new message from the same man on the scene in Iraq:

Thank you so much for putting the news out there, Robert.

The attacks haven't stopped, and I just go the word that they are ATTACKING a Catholic Diocesan office.

The security is standing still and watching as I am writing this to you.

Christian homes are being fired upon as well.

And I just learned that they're starting to attack small villages on the outskirts of the town as well. This could be a major news as it unfolds.

It seems to me that it already is.

As always, the elephant in the room which this story avoids is the role of Islamic teachings and traditions, in the Qur'an, and in the example of Muhammad. Qur'an 4:34 allows a man to hit (yes, hit) women in his household from whom he fears disobedience. Child marriage persists due to the example of Muhammad (see also: Sahih Bukhari 7.62.88), who consummated his marriage to a nine-year-old at the age of fifty-four.

"No law can be passed that contradicts the fixed principles of Islam" in the post-Saddam Iraqi constitution (Chapter 1, Article 2), and resistance to reforms in favor of the protection of women will invoke the supremacy of Sharia. "A fifth of Iraqi women 'subjected to abuse'," from Agence France-Presse, November 26:

One in five Iraqi women is subjected to either physical or psychological abuse, often inflicted by family members, Minister of State for Women’s Rights Ibtihal al-Zaidi said on Saturday.

"One-fifth of Iraqi women are subjected to two types of violence, physical and psychological, constituting a very serious danger to the family and society," Zaidi said at a conference dedicated to fighting violence against women.

"The most dangerous violence against woman is family violence, from the father, the brother, the husband or even the son," she said.

"Fighting violence against women is a cultural issue, it is the responsibility of the media, politicians and the religious men," said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who also attended the conference.

The overall level of violence in Iraq has declined since its peak in 2006-2007, but women still remain victims of violence, trafficking, forced marriage at a young age, and kidnapping for confessional or criminal reasons, according to non-governmental organisations.

Iraqi women are also affected by a lack of social services, and some must head their households alone because of the death of a husband or son.

Misunderstanders of Islam mark one of Islam's major feast days with blood and murder. Yet oddly enough, Islamic spokesmen in the U.S. will not pause from their fulminations about "Islamophobia" to instruct their bloody Baghdad coreligionists in the true, peaceful Islam. "Iraq deadly blasts hit Baghdad market," from the BBC, November 6 (thanks to Ed):

At least six people have been killed by a series of blasts at a market in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, say reports.

Three explosions went off in the commercial district of Shurja, as people were buying food for the major Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

At least 21 people were injured in the attack, police told the Associated Press news agency.

Overall violence in Iraq has declined since a peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks on civilians remain common.

The latest explosions came despite the extra security measures put in place across Iraq for the Eid holiday.

"I can see fire and black smoke mounting and a large number of fire engines, ambulances and police patrols rushing to the market," one witness told Reuters.

Interior and defence ministry officials said parts of the historic market had been set on fire, the AFP news agency reports.

The Shurja market is one of the oldest and best-known in Iraq. It was not immediately clear whether the bombs had been planted or detonated by suicide attackers....

Muhammad said: "Allah Mighty and Majestic sent me as a guidance and mercy to believers and commanded me to do away with musical instruments, flutes, strings, crucifixes, and the affair of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance."

And not just by asking nicely. "Death toll in Baghdad's twin bombings rises to 32," from the Associated Press, October 30 (thanks to Kenneth):

Iraqi police and health officials say the death toll of a twin bombing in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad has risen to 32.

The two blasts, which took place Thursday evening at a music store, wounded 71 other people, the officials said. A second bomb exploded minutes after the first, targeting rescue workers and onlookers.

Violence in Iraq is increasing with the approach of the end of the year deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw.

The officials said Friday that some of the more seriously wounded died overnight. Wounded were taken to numerous hospitals, they said, and it took time to get an accurate death toll.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Two police officials said the first explosion, at a music store shortly after 7 p.m., killed two people. The second bomb struck four minutes later, as rescue workers and others rushed to the scene, the officials said....

Multiple attacks that are timed to inflict casualties on emergency workers have been an al-Qaeda trademark.

It is unclear, according to this report, whether jihadists were targeting the liquor store or just going for plain old murder."Bomb near Baghdad liquor store kills 7 people," by Mazin Yahya for the Associated Press, October 17:

BAGHDAD (AP) — A bomb blast near a Baghdad liquor store Monday evening killed seven people and injured another 18, Iraqi medical and police officials said.

Three of the dead and five of the injured were police officers, the officials said.

The information came from police in eastern Baghdad and the hospital where the dead and injured were taken.

It was not immediately clear whether the liquor store was the target or the police officers. Police and Iraqi security officials are often targeted by Sunni militants trying to undermine the country's fragile security. Conservative Shiite militant groups have sometimes targeted liquor stores and cafes.

Some conservatives enjoy a bit of the sauce.

Later in an eastern Baghdad neighborhood, a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol, killing one civilian and wounding another four people, said hospital and police officials.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Security has improved dramatically in Iraq since the black days of the 2006 and 2007, when death squads roamed the streets and as many as 100 bodies a day would turn up at the morgues. But attacks such as Monday evening's still happen regularly.

With all U.S. troops leaving Iraq by the end of this year, Iraqi security forces will be responsible for maintaining security in the country on their own. They face serious challenges, including a continuing insurgency, little ability to protect their own airspace and lingering sectarian tensions.

The most stubborn source of resistance to reforms against domestic violence in Muslim countries is the invocation of chapter and verse from the Qur'an. In Qur'an 4:34, Allah says a man can hit (yes, hit) his wife if he fears disobedience from her. Yes, domestic violence occurs in the West, but it is illegal, and it is condemned as a backward and abhorrent practice that must be obliterated, not regulated or managed.

Meanwhile, in Islamic countries, at the risk of contradicting Allah, self-styled reformers must try to split hairs about translations and propose limitations on how hard a man can hit, or emphasize the notion that hitting is a "last resort" while leaving the principle of the matter untouched: at the end of the day, Allah says Muslim men can hit their wives.

And so they do, among other accepted abuses in the Muslim world, such as "triple-talaq" divorce and marital rape. "Hopes dim to change Iraq laws to protect women," by Bushra Juhi for the Associated Press, October 11:

BAGHDAD (AP) — Salma Jassim was beaten, kicked out of her marital home with her newborn daughter on her shoulder and then deserted by her husband. But she says the threat she faces from her own family, who feel shamed because of her divorce, is just as bad as the abuse.

There are few places in Iraq where Jassim can turn for help. Iraqi experts believe that domestic abuse has increased during the years of war and economic hardship since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. But attempts to strengthen laws to protect women have gone nowhere in the face of heavy cultural and religious resistance.

The World Health Organization has estimated that one in five Iraqi women has reported being a victim of domestic violence, and experts say the rate is much higher. Government officials say for the time being there's little hope that laws giving men wide rights to "discipline" their wives will be changed.

"There are abusive laws against women ... but we believe that in this era, this project will be rejected," said the Human Rights Ministry's spokesman Kamil Amin. "Politicians have no will to change these abusive laws."

State Minister for Women's Affairs Ibtihal al-Zaidi agreed.

"The new reforms might raise issues against Islamic laws as well as tribal and traditional norms," she said. "It is a very sensitive issue."

Al-Zaidi's ministry is working with other ministries along with civil society organizations in coordination with the United Nations to finalize a national strategic plan for the advancement of women, combating violence against women, and preparing draft legislation to protect against domestic violence.

However, al-Zaidi said she was "very hesitant" to present the draft legislation to parliament because of unsuccessful attempts made by Iraq's Human Rights Ministry to repeal discriminatory provisions.

"The Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council thwarted our attempts under the pretext that the time was not right for such amendments which would be rejected by the Iraqi street because they conflict with religious, tribal and traditional norms," said Amin, the Rights Ministry spokesman. "Not only male lawmakers but even some female lawmakers stood against such reforms because of their extreme religious convictions."

At issue is Iraq's penal code, written in 1969, that excuses crimes "if the act is committed while exercising a legal right." Husbands punishing their wives, and parents and teachers punishing children are considered permissible "within certain limits prescribed by law or by custom."

Remember Qur'an 4:34? The Associated Press doesn't:

In Iraq, some tribes and fundamental Muslim sects believe that Islamic laws allow husbands to beat unruly wives, and even for families to kill women relatives who are accused of bringing shame upon the home, such as in cases of adultery. The authority given to husbands can sometimes be exploited by their families to abuse wives as well.

More often than not, women like Jassim routinely are blamed instead of helped.

Jassim said her husband's family, which became wealthy after their son started a thriving car spare parts business, was ashamed of her because of her humble background.

She said her husband's sisters beat her so badly her breast milk dried up and she could not feed her baby. The sisters one day kicked her and her baby out of the house, even ripping her headscarf and some of her hair off, she said. Jassim's husband eventually divorced her after his sisters accused her of stealing money from them.

But when Jassim, 22, returned to her family home with her baby, her brothers blamed her for the entire debacle and said she'd shamed their family by being kicked out and divorced. They refused to let her leave the house, held her at gunpoint and threatened to kill her.

"I accept insult, degradation and abuse rather than the hellish condition I am living in now," Jassim said recently, sitting in the Baghdad office of an Iraqi aid agency that offers legal advice to such women.

In September, Iraq was named among 34 countries that will share a $17.1 million grant from the U.N. for programs to end violence against women. The U.N. says the money can be used to give women legal and medical access, provide counseling for men and women and other programs.

Even small efforts to curb domestic violence short of changing the law have largely failed officials and experts say.

Last year, the Interior Ministry opened two women's protection centers in Baghdad, where victims can file abuse complaints with police. The centers are sponsored by the State Ministry for Women's Affairs, which opened at least one in each of Iraq's 18 provinces.

Police Col. Mushtaq Talib, who oversees the two centers in Baghdad, said women rarely file complaints because "they would end up homeless, for their families would surely reject them."...

The smiling victor at right

I've been predicting this since at least 2006:

June 27, 2006: "Of course, Ahmadinejad may be jumping the gun a bit as far as that is concerned, but he is certainly doing all he can to bring into being a Shi'ite client state in Iraq."

September 13, 2006: "Here we see looming in Iraq the Shi'ite client state of Iran that the U.S. has unwittingly helped put into place with its short-sighted democracy project."

October 31, 2006: "Is al-Maliki on the road to creating the Shi'ite client state that the Iranians have been trying to foster in Iraq for quite some time now?"

February 11, 2007: "Iran continues its efforts to create a Shi'ite client state in Iraq."

June 10, 2008: "Or are U.S. troops the main obstacle to Iraq's becoming a full-fledged client state of Iran?"

November 12, 2008: "Very soon now the President of the United States and the President of Iran will sit down, without preconditions, and hash this out, and clear everything up before Iraq turns fully into the Shi'ite client state that the Iranians covet."

July 1, 2009: "Their goal of creating a Shi'ite client state is closer than ever to being realized."

July 30, 2009: "Was this what we have been fighting for in Iraq all these years? An Iranian Shi'ite client state in Baghdad?"

"Iraq, siding with Iran, sends essential aid to Syria’s Assad," by Joby Warrick in the Washington Post, October 8:

More than six months after the start of the Syrian uprising, Iraq is offering key moral and financial support to the country’s embattled president, undermining a central U.S. policy objective and raising fresh concerns that Iraq is drifting further into the orbit of an American arch rival — Iran.

Iraq’s stance has dealt an embarrassing setback to the Obama administration, which has sought to enlist Muslim allies in its campaign to isolate Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad. While other Arab states have downgraded ties with Assad, Iraq has moved in the opposite direction, hosting official visits by Syrians, signing pacts to expand business ties and offering political support.

After Iraq sent conflicting signals about its support for Assad last month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke firmly against regime change in Syria in an interview broadcast on Iraqi television Sept. 30. “We believe that Syria will be able to overcome its crisis through reforms,” Maliki said, rejecting U.S. calls for the Syrian leader to step down. His words echoed those of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who weeks earlier proposed that Syrians should “implement the necessary reforms by themselves.”

On other issues as well, the Maliki government in recent months has hewed closer to Iran’s stance — Iraq, for example, has supported Iran’s right to nuclear technology and advocated U.N. membership for Palestinians — as the U.S. military races to complete its troop withdrawal over the coming months....

"Prison breaks are not uncommon in Iraq, casting doubt on whether Iraqi security forces are ready to protect the nation when U.S. troops leave."

Ready, or willing? "35 Iraqi inmates tunnel out, most recaptured," by Bushra Juhi for the Associated Press, September 1:

BAGHDAD (AP) — Thirty-five Iraqi terror suspects tunneled their way out of a prison on Thursday and most were quickly recaptured, officials said.

Abdul-Raheem al-Shimmary, the head of the security committee on the provincial council, said 21 of the detainees were recaptured soon after they escaped at dawn through a 50-meter (160-foot) tunnel that they dug from the prison in Iraq's northern Ninevah province. The city was locked down Thursday as security forces, with U.S. air support, searched for the remaining 14.

The detainees were being held at a Ministry of Interior facility on terrorism related charges. Al-Shimmary said they had links to al-Qaida. The U.S. commander in the region said the escapees were involved in such activities as planting roadside bombs.

Two Iraqi officials with knowledge of the investigation said the tunnel lead to a sewage pipe and then to the Tigris River. They said there were indications the prisoners had inside help, and that officials were looking into how the detainees were able to obtain digging tools.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The Ninevah province governor, Atheel al-Nujaifi, told Al-Baghdadia television that there was "clear collusion" between the fleeing prisoners and the officials responsible for the prison.

Army Col. Brian Winski, the U.S. commander in the region, said during a Pentagon press conference via satellite that the U.S. helped tracked down a couple of the escapees by following them with aerial observation. He said a few may not be captured soon, but their identities and likely destinations were known, making it possible "to detain them when they surface, wherever that may be."

Winski said the escapees were members of a cell that planted roadside bombs, among other activities. He said none was a high-level leader.

Prison breaks are not uncommon in Iraq, casting doubt on whether Iraqi security forces are ready to protect the nation when U.S. troops leave.

Last month, two inmates and one guard were killed in a prison break in the central Iraqi city of Hilla. Earlier this year a dozen terror suspects disguised in police uniforms broke out of a temporary detention center in the southern port city of Basra.

Not what they meant by "temporary detention center."

Jihad waged by Muslims against other Muslims tends to blow a hole in the usual theories of "underlying causes" for Islamic jihad outside of the imperative to wage jihad against unbelief and impose Sharia. That imperative includes variant Islamic beliefs.

Who is "occupying" whose land here? "Suicide attack kills at least 24 at Baghdad mosque," by Muhanad Mohammed for Reuters, August 28:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber posing as a beggar detonated his explosives inside a major Baghdad Sunni mosque on Sunday, killing at least 24 people, including an Iraqi lawmaker, just as they finished evening prayers, hospital and local officials said.

The bomber wearing a cast on his arm blew himself up in the main hall of the Umm al-Qura mosque, an important Sunni religious site in Baghdad and one frequented by top Iraqi Sunni leaders in the capital's western Ghazaliya district.

Attacks on Sunni and Shi'ite mosques are especially sensitive in Iraq where a power-sharing government still struggles to overcome the sectarian slaughter that dragged Iraq to the edge of civil war after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

"The suicide bomber entered pretending he was hurt. He entered the main prayer area. We started to get suspicious. But when the prayers finished, he blew himself up," said Ahmed Abdul Razaq, who was at the mosque.

Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the height of sectarian bloodletting four years ago, but both Sunni Islamists linked to al-Qaeda and Shi'ite militias still carry out almost daily attacks as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw at year end.

At Umm al-Qura, the bomber's dismembered remains stayed in the main prayer area and bloody spatters trailed across the mosque carpet where blast victims had been carried outside, a Reuters witness at the site said.

An official at Yarmouk Hospital said at least 24 bodies had been brought there as well as 30 wounded while an interior ministry source put the toll at 28.

A Baghdad security spokesman earlier said at least six people were killed and 12 more were wounded. Iraqi officials often give conflicting estimates of initial bombing death tolls.

None of Iraq's armed groups immediately claimed responsibility, but suicide bombings are usually employed by the local al-Qaeda affiliate Islamic State of Iraq or ISI who officials accuse of trying to foment sectarian tensions to destabilize the government.

Ahmed Adbul Ghafour al-Samarrai, head of the Sunni Endowment which runs Sunni religious sites, told local television from hospital the bomber had been waiting for him. He was slightly wounded.

Iraqi officials say al Qaeda has resurfaced in former strongholds and is still capable of carrying out bolder attacks despite losing top leaders and its geographical reach across Iraq.

Sunday's bombing was the most serious attack since August 15 when a series of suicide bombings, car-bombs and roadside explosives killed at least 70 people across the country. Officials blamed local Iraqi al-Qaeda affiliates....

All of this goes to show celebration over the death of al-Qaeda's most recent second-in-command may be premature.

The case was thrown out for a "lack of evidence." Wink-wink. "Iraqi sniper who shot dead two Marines freed after serving two-and-a-half years for each killing," by Daniel Bates for the Daily Mail, August 21:

They were told that so long as a U.S. marine was still in Iraq, he would remain in jail.

But now, just five years after shooting dead two American soldiers, an Iraqi sniper has been released from prison - and walked away a free man.

Compounding the families’ agony was that the announcement came shortly before the fifth anniversary of the killing.

It was only by sending a letter to senior commanders that they revealed Muhammad Awwad Ahmad had been set free ten months earlier, in November last year.

The disclosure means he could be back on the streets in Iraq shooting dead more people - while the families of Captain John McKenna and Lance Corporal Michael Glover continue to grieve.

Ahmad shot dead Capt McKenna, 30, a state trooper who volunteered for service in Iraq, as his unit was patrolling the Iraqi city of Fallujah on August 16, 2006.

Lance Cpl Glover, 28, was the point man and was mortally wounded as he crossed a street.

Capt McKenna ran to help him but he was shot as he tried to pull him to cover.

The sniper was identified soon after as Ahmad because of his big ears and he was jailed amid promises from the U.S. military that he would see proper justice.

Now that has been exposed as a sham after he was freed serving what amounts to two-and-a-half years for each of the hero soldier’s lives. [...]

They only found out by sending a letter on May 16 to then Defence Secretary Robert Gates in which the elder McKenna inquired what had happened to Ahmad. [...]

Nearly three months went by before the response landed on his doormat on August 4 from William Lietzau, deputy assistant secretary of defence for rule of law and detainee policy.

According to the Daily News it read: ‘Consistent with our legal obligations under (the) Iraq Security Agreement, Ahmad was transferred to Government of Iraq control in June 2010 pursuant to an Iraqi criminal warrant. ... Ahmad's case was reviewed by an Iraqi court, and he was ordered released on October 25, 2010, because of a lack of evidence.'.

The families of both men were horrified and pointed out that Ahmad’s distinctive physical appearance - notably his big ears - made identifying him straightforward.

This allowed the slain men’s fellow Marines to track him down after the killings - and haul him in for the justice he denied his victims....

That took them long enough, considering that bin Laden was dead and buried at sea in the beginning of May. They're also making a big deal of launching this in mid-Ramadan. While escalations of jihadist hostilities during Ramadan are commonplace, the members of al-Qaeda in Iraq can't call themselves The Punctual Jihadists here.

They would be out for slaughter anyway, of course; bin Laden is the excuse du jour, and invoking him is an attempt to rally support. Their aim remains the fundamental aim of jihad in all its forms: to impose Islamic law. "Al-Qaida in Iraq: 100 attacks to avenge bin Laden," by Qassim Abdul-Zahra for the Associated Press, August 20:

BAGHDAD (AP) — Al-Qaida in Iraq has vowed to carry out "100 attacks" across the country, starting in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, to exact revenge for the death of Osama bin Laden.

The terror group's statement was released on militant websites late Friday. It said the attacks will avenge bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in May, and other slain senior al-Qaida leaders.

"By God's will, the campaign starts in the middle of the fasting month (of Ramadan) and ends by God's will after 100 attacks exactly," it said.

The statement said the campaign would include "varied attacks, including raids, martyrdom operations (suicide attacks), roadside bombs, silenced guns and snipers, in all cities, rural areas and provinces" across Iraq.

Monday marked the middle of Ramadan.

On that day, a wave of crushing attacks swept across Iraq — from the northern city of Mosul to the southern Shiite heartland. At least 70 people died in suicide bombings, roadside bombs and shootings in what was Iraq's deadliest day this year.

Al-Qaida did not explicitly claim responsibility for those attacks in Friday's statement, but the chaos is widely believed to be the work of al-Qaida in Iraq.

A little over a year ago, U.S. and Iraqi officials said the deaths of al-Qaida in Iraq's two top leaders in a raid had dealt a severe blow to the organization. The group has suffered from a drop in funding and just two weeks ago was calling on former members to come back to the fold, a sign of its diminished status.

But Monday's violence suggests that al-Qaida in Iraq has the ability to resurrect itself and still carry out vicious attacks.

"The men were all members of a militia created during the height of the sectarian conflict of Sunnis who used to be aligned with al-Qaida but later turned on them."

Even if the jihadists eliminate everyone else, they'll always have each other. Lacking an outside enemy against whom to make common cause, and a figurehead with exactly the right balance of personality cult and sheer brutality who could hold things together for a time, even a restored caliphate would collapse on itself from infighting and revenge-seeking.

"7 pulled from Iraqi mosque, killed execution-style," by Hamid Ahmed for the Associated Press, August 15:

BAGHDAD (AP) — Gunmen wearing military uniforms pulled seven people from a Sunni mosque south of Baghdad and then shot and killed them execution-style, officials said Tuesday, raising the death toll to 70 in Iraq's deadliest day this year. The killings late Monday came at the end of a day that saw a wave of crushing violence sweep across Iraq, from the northern city of Mosul to the Shiite heartland — including suicide bombings, roadside bombs and shootings. The violence was reminiscent of the bloodletting that used to plague Iraq daily a few years ago and a stark warning that al-Qaida in Iraq is still a force to be reckoned with.

The fact that militants were able to pull off such a wave of violence is especially disturbing considering that U.S. forces are scheduled to leave Iraq at the end of this year, leaving the country's security in the hands of still-struggling Iraqi security forces.

Iraqi officials announced earlier this month that they would discuss with the U.S. having a small group of trainers in the country past Dec. 31 but no deal has been finalized.

In the execution-style attack late Monday, the gunmen walked into a Sunni mosque in the town of Youssifiyah during evening prayers, took the seven men outside and shot them, said officials with the Ministry of Interior and the town hospital.

The men were all members of a militia created during the height of the sectarian conflict of Sunnis who used to be aligned with al-Qaida but later turned on them.

Youssifiyah is about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Baghdad and used to be one of the country's most violent regions, nicknamed the Triangle of Death. It's a Sunni-dominated area that is also home to many Shiite families. Sunni militants used to find easy hiding places among the region's date palm groves.

After the killings, the gunmen shouted they were fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq, a front group for al-Qaida in Iraq....

And a web posting praised the attacks against "Shiites, Christians, and the apostate Awakening Councils," where apostasy is punishable by death under Islamic law according to Muhammad's own command.

Now, now. Escalation of jihadist attacks during Ramadan? War against unbelievers and apostates? There's got to be some kind of "underlying cause" for all this. A "misunderstanding," perhaps.

A really, really, huge "misunderstanding" that keeps cropping up in places far removed from one another. "U.S. military: Wave of attacks in Iraq 'eerily similar' to last year," by Mohammed Tawfiq for CNN, August 15:

Baghdad (CNN) -- A barrage of attacks struck Monday across Iraq, killing at least 92 people and wounding more than 200, said officials, who likened the attacks to another outbreak last year.

"Once again, murderers and criminals have carried out attacks against innocent civilians to add a new page to their black criminal record," Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a written statement.

He called on security forces to "not let the killers catch their breath," and to pursue them "until they finish them."

Some of the 21 reported bombings and shootings targeted police and security forces, while others targeted civilians.

It was the worst wave of violence to strike the country in months, taking place on the halfway mark of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"Today's attacks are eerily similar to the stream of large-scale, complex attacks that occurred here last year during Ramadan on Aug. 25," said Maj. Angela Funaro, spokeswoman for United States Forces-Iraq.

Officials believe last year's attacks were carried out by al Qaeda in Iraq "to shake the public's confidence in the capabilities of the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) to defend this country," but it is too early to speculate about who may have been behind Monday's attacks, Funaro said in an e-mail.

A posting Monday on a jihadist website praised the attacks against "Shiites, Christians, and the apostate Awakening Councils." The post did not include a claim of responsibility. Awakening Councils are made up of former Sunni militants now in the pay of the Iraqi government, which have been credited with helping reduce violence. They are also frequent targets of assassination attempts....

Much of this looks like Sunni/Shi'ite Jihad. Will the Islamophobia never, ever end?

"Spate of bomb attacks kill 63 across Iraq," by Jamal Hashim for Xinhua, August 15 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

BAGHDAD, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- A series of bomb attacks in seven provinces in central and northern Iraq on Monday left a total of 63 people killed and more than 260 wounded in a new escalation of violence in the country several months ahead of the proposed departure of U.S. troops.

The deadliest attack occurred in the city of Kut, some 170 km southeast of capital Baghdad, when a roadside bomb detonated at a marketplace in central the city at about 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) and was followed by a car bomb explosion, killing up to 34 people and wounding 64 others, a source from the provincial operations command told Xinhua.

Another deadly attack hit the Iraqi city of Tikrit, the capital of Salahudin province in north of Baghdad, when two suicide bombers entered the provincial counter-terrorism headquarters after they passed the checkpoints with their military uniforms and fake IDs in an attempt to free al-Qaida militants detained in the headquarters' jail....

Salahudin province, located in northern central Iraq, is a mainly Sunni province. Its capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, is the hometown of former President Saddam Hussein.

In Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, six people were killed and 58 others wounded when two car bombs successively struck a police station, tasked with protecting the highways, in al-Hussein district in central Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad.

Elsewhere, three people were killed and up to 41 wounded in a car bomb explosion near al-Hindiyah police headquarters in eastern the city of Karbala, some 110 km southwest of Baghdad. The blast caused damages to the police building and destroyed several nearby police vehicles and civilian cars.

Under Sharia, this could not be repaired. That is the jihadists' ultimate goal. Islamic law forbids the building of new churches or repair of old ones, so that the non-Muslims are so subjugated, they cannot fix what their overlords break. In Iraq for now, at least, they may well be back to break it again. "Attack against Kirkuk’s St Ephraim Syrian Orthodox Church," from Asia News, August 15:

Kirkuk (AsiaNews) – A bomb exploded last night near the St Ephraim Syrian Orthodox Church in Kirkuk, which is just a few hundreds of metres from the Chaldean cathedral, in central part of the city. The device blew up at 1.30 am and there were no victims. The damages to the church were however huge.

Photo from AsiaNews.

Today’s incident is the latest in a string of attacks against Christians and their places of worship. On 2 August, a car bomb exploded in front of the Holy Family Syrian Catholic Church, wounding 15 people. The bomb had been placed inside a car, parked near the building.

On the same day, another bomb also placed in a car parked near a Presbyterian church was defused before it went off.

Islamic fundamentalists, who remain very active, as well as groups involved in local feuds, have targeted Iraqi Christians.

With a population of 900,000, Kirkuk is located in Iraq’s most important oil fields. For years, it has been embroiled in a political fight among various ethnic groups, most notably Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds. The latter would like to see Kirkuk’s region annexed to Kurdistan, whilst Arabs and Turkmen would like it to remain directly linked to Iraq’s central government.

This is the second murderous attack on a liquor store in Baghdad in as many weeks. Remember: drinking and selling alcohol are immoral acts; murdering those who do so, on the other hand, is pleasing in the sight of Allah. And after all, it is Ramadan.

"Two killed in bomb attack on liquor store in Baghdad," from Trend (Azerbaijan), August 13 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Two people were killed and ten others wounded in a bomb explosion near a liquor store in western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on Saturday.

The attack occurred around midnight on Friday, when a bomb planted near a liquor store in Baghdad's Yarmouk district detonated, which destroyed part of the store and caused damages to several nearby shops and civilian cars, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Gunmen frequently attacked liquor stores and some store owners blamed the attacks mainly on Muslim fundamentalists from al-Qaida or Shiite militias....

Next question: Whose Jesus? This report says he appeals to "Christian sentiment," but al-Sadr is firmly invoking the Qur'an's characterization of Jesus, using the title "Son of Mary," as the Qur'an does, in order to deny the Christian belief in Jesus' divinity. Like much interfaith dialogue, al-Sadr is hoping people will gloss over the cavernous gap between the two religions' accounts of Jesus. In addition to the fact that Islam claims Jesus as a Muslim, Islamic eschatology portrays him as returning to fight alongside the Muslims, break crosses, kill pigs, and abolish the jizya tax non-Muslims paid to exist in subjugation under Islamic law. The remaining Christians will face the wrath of... Jesus.

He makes his appeal as he calls for U.S. troops to withdraw. Never mind how he has benefitted from the invasion: it made the "anti-Crest" as we know him possible. He probably won't even send a card.

More on this story. "Iraq's Sadr tells US troops to go home," from Agence France-Presse, August 9:

Radical anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has called for US forces to return home to their families in a rare English message that threatens violence but also appeals to Christian sentiment.

"Go forth from our holy land and go back to your families who are waiting for your arrival impatiently, that you and we, as well, lead a peaceful life together," Sadr said in the message addressed to US troops, which was posted on the website of the political committee of his movement on Monday night.

It is the third message from Sadr since Saturday calling on US forces to go, following an agreement by Iraqi political leaders on Wednesday to start negotiations with Washington on a US military mission to train Iraqi security forces.

Unresolved issues remain over the size of the force, the duration of its stay, and whether its members would be immune from Iraqi prosecution.

"Is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, pleased with degradation, invasion and oppression? Or are the heavenly revealed laws and divine prophets pleased therewith?" Sadr said in the message.

"Nay, your laws and principles will never be pleased whatsoever. If you claim you have come to free us, spare us of your claims and release us of your wrongdoing," he said.

Nay?

"Know that we will resist and struggle firmly and strongly as before, until you leave our land, even as you would resist and struggle if your country were exposed to invasion," he said.

About 47,000 US troops are still stationed in Iraq, all of whom must leave by the end of the year under the terms of a 2008 bilateral security pact, which would remain in force if a training deal is not agreed.

US and Iraqi military officials assess Iraq's security forces capable of maintaining internal security, but say the country is lacking in terms of capacity to defend its borders, airspace and territorial waters.

Sadr's movement has 40 deputies in parliament and seven ministers in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's national unity government.

And before it was disbanded in 2008, Sadr's Mahdi Army numbered some 60,000 fighters with fierce loyalty to the cleric. It fought bloody battles with the US army in the years following the 2003 invasion which ousted Saddam Hussein.

It's not that he wouldn't. When a group of the "anti-Crest"'s followers offered to attack U.S. forces in June, he thanked them and asked for Allah to watch over them. On the other hand, al-Sadr does not have to take any present action on a threat for the future, so the sabre-rattling is likely to cost him nothing. For that matter, the chances are good that he may benefit on some level as his sympathizers within Iraqi ranks receive that same training.

"U.S. military trainers could be targets: Iraq's Sadr," by Aseel Kami for Reuters, August 7:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's fiercely anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has warned that U.S. military trainers will be targets if they stay in the country beyond a year-end deadline for American troops to leave.

The statement from Sadr, whose Mehdi Army militia fought U.S. troops until 2008, follows a deal by Iraqi leaders to allow Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to negotiate with the United States on whether to keep trainers in Iraq after the deadline.

Sadr followers have sent mixed messages on that, but any deal to keep U.S. troops in Iraq, even as trainers, remains a sensitive issue in Baghdad and Washington eight years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

"Whoever stays in Iraq will be treated as an unjust invader and should be opposed with military resistance," Sadr said in a statement published on a pro-Sadr website on Saturday.

"A government which agrees for them to stay, even for training, is a weak government."

Sadr's Mehdi Army militia has for the most part demobilized, but U.S. officials say Sadrist splinter groups have continued to attack U.S. troops still stationed in Iraq.

Violence in Iraq has eased sharply since sectarian bloodshed peaked four years ago, but bombings and assassinations are still carried out almost daily by Sunni Islamists, some tied to al Qaeda, and by Shi'ite militas the U.S. government says are backed by Iran.

Sadr himself is now part of mainstream politics and a key ally to Maliki in his fragile power-sharing coalition among Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs.

Sadr's representatives walked out of last week's discussions on U.S. troops, signaling possible dissension within the coalition.

U.S. and Iraqi officials agree that Iraq's security forces are capable of taking on internal threats, but say they need training in heavy conventional weaponry like tanks, and in air and naval defenses.

Details of any deal are far from clear, and an agreement would need to pass through parliament, say U.S. officials, who want legal immunity for any residual U.S. military presence.

Sadr has in the past threatened to revive his Shi'ite Mehdi Army if U.S. troops stay, but Sadrist sources have said the militia is riven with splinter groups and internal divisions.

Islam forbids Muslims to drink, sell, or buy alcohol. To do any of those things would be considered immoral. But committing mass murder to prevent the trade in liquor? Not immoral. Sharia Alert from Baghdad: "Officials: 4 killed in two bomb blasts in Baghdad," by Sinan Salaheddin for the Associated Press, August 3 (thanks to Bill):

BAGHDAD—Police and health officials say four Iraqis have been killed in two successive bombings targeting a liquor store in western Baghdad.

A police officer said Wednesday that 13 people were also wounded in the attack, which took place late Tuesday night in the capital's Rissala neighborhood.

He says the first bomb went off near the liquor store, while the second came a few minutes later as police and residents rushed to the scene. Three policemen were among the killed.

Will the Islamophobia never end? "Iraq: Kirkuk church bombing injures at least 20," from AKI, August 2 (thanks to C. Cantoni):

Kirkuk, 2 Aug. (AKI) - A priest and at least 19 others were injured Tuesday by an autobomb that detonated outside a church in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, according to comments made by the local police.

The attack took place in Kirkuk's Shatterlo neighborhood at around 5:30 a.m., according to a police. More than 40 homes were damaged by the blast.

Terrorists in Iraq have stepped up attacks against the country's minority Christian population. An attack against a Christian church in Baghdad on 31 October, left 58 worshippers dead including two priests. It was one of the worst in the spate of attacks that have targeted Iraqi Christians and have left scores dead....

This point does not apply only to al-Qaeda's enmity with Shi'ite Muslims; nor did al-Qaeda make it up. Muhammad said:

"I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform a that, then they save their lives [and] property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah" (Sahih Bukhari 1.2.24, emphasis added).

On a lighter note, Al-Qaeda in Iraq appears to be going broke for the moment. "Al-Qaida in Iraq appeals for fundraising ideas," by Maamoun Youssef for the Associated Press, July 26:

CAIRO (AP) — Al-Qaida militants in Iraq made an online appeal Tuesday for new fundraising ideas, saying they are in dire need of money to help thousands of widows and children of slain fighters.

Insurgents of the Islamic State of Iraq — an umbrella group for Sunni militants— have funded their operations in the past by robbing jewelry stores, banks and offices where the government pays out monthly salaries. But the group has seen its main source of money, funding from abroad, dry up, leaving the group strapped for cash.

In an Arabic statement posted on al-Qaida in Iraq's online forum, website administrator Seif Saad lamented the state of the group's finances and launched an urgent appeal for money to "feed the widows and the orphans" of mujahedeen, or holy warriors.

"A few days ago a brother was martyred, leaving behind a wife and children. There is no need to explain how we were running here and there to collect money for their minimum requirements of life," wrote Saad.

Among the new ideas to raise funds, Saad suggested insurgents find a way to extort money from foreign oil, construction, transport and cell phone companies, as well as international media agencies. If the companies refused to pay, insurgents would disrupt their operations. He did not elaborate.

He also said businessmen and wealthy families should be forced to pay annual zakat, or charity, which Islam stipulates should be roughly two percent of assets, and called for imposing fines on wealthy Shiites in Iraq "who receive aid from America and the West and steal the country's oil revenues."

Mohamed Abdel-Hadi, who identified himself online another administrator for the website, dismissed the idea of taking money from foreign companies, but said he strongly supports fining Shiites.

"All the Shiites, including merchants or government officials, are infidels and confiscating their money is part of jihad," he wrote.

A visitor on the website posted a comment suggesting militants kidnap company executives in return for hefty ransoms that could finance a prolonged insurgency.

Another contributor advised recruiting specialized Internet hackers to transfer money from U.S. banks to trusted people. The contributor did not elaborate.

The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for last year's heists of the Central Bank of Iraq and a state-run investment center.

The global arm of al-Qaida has itself appealed for funds in the past. One request was made by al-Qaida's Ayman al-Zawahri, who became the leader of the group after the death of Osama bin Laden.

Last year, al-Qaida's top commander in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazeed, also appealed for more funding, saying militants battling NATO forces were hampered by a lack of money and equipment.

Osama bin Laden, who was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in May, also appealed for more funds in some of his statement, urging businessmen to direct their alms to al-Qaida.