Take a look at this significant report by Prof. Juan Cole from yesterday about Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran blaming a whole bunch of people for the bombing of the holy Shia shrine at Samarra, including the United States occupiers.
"Iran's Supreme Jurisprudent, Ali Khamenei, managed to blame the Iraqi Baath Party, the Wahhabi sect of Islam, the Salafi Jihadi radicals among Sunnis, and the United States, jointly for the blowing up of the minarets at the al-Askariya Shrine in Samarra. The shrine is among the holiest sites for the Shiite branch of Islam. Iran is the largest Shiite country, with 90% or so of its 70 million people adhering to it.
"Khamenei is both the head of the Iranian state and the head of Iranian Shiism, and is recognized as authoritative by some Shiites outside Iran, especially the Hizbullah Party of south Lebanon. Most non-Iranian Shiites follow instead Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Najaf, who has called for calm. But Khamenei has a big megaphone among Shiites.
"His laying of responsibility for the bombing at the feet of the US will increase anti-American hatred in the Shiite world. (Emphasis added). Khamenei's heated and irrational rhetoric, positing a vast conspiracy among various groups that hate one another, is typical of the hardliners in Iran, but it is my impression that in recent months he has tended to leave the wilder talk to his rival Ayatollah Misbah Yazdi and his protege, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. I don't think Khamenei's remarks on this matter are a good sign.
Was this whole mess predicted before Bush started the War on Iraq in March 2003? If Bush's father refused to invade Iraq during the First Gulf War because of the Pandora's Box of occupying an Islamic country as is Iraq, how could Bush Jr. be so rash as to go against his father's policy? Why is the United States subject to the foolishness of W? How did he get re-elected in 2004? How can he still have the support of some 60% of the Republicans in latest surveys?
No comments:
Post a Comment