Official says Iraqis resisting civil war(Blames Zarqawi for Attack on Shiite Shrine)

CNN ^ | February 26, 2006 | Staff

[Anti-Bubba182]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's national security adviser said Sunday that violence from the past week is not a precursor to civil war between the country's religious factions.

Instead, Mowaffak al-Rubaie blamed Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq group for the event that instigated four days of sectarian violence -- the Wednesday bombing of Al-Askariya Mosque, also known as the Golden Mosque, a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra.

"The blueprints of that unfortunate event, the blueprints of al Qaeda in Iraq is there," al-Rubaie told CNN's "Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer."

"It is the same design, the same objective, which is civil war. They want to drive a wedge between the Sunni and the Shia."[snip]...

[snip]Al-Rubaie said that Iraqi security forces had made 10 arrests -- four of them guards at the shrine -- and were following other leads to those behind the bombing....."

[Anti-Bubba182]

Hope they get a confession out of the suspects soon. Zarqawi and Al-Quaeda are ones with a lot to gain from a civil war in Iraq. Bombing the shrine could backfire big and looks like a desperation move.

[Allegra]

Heeeere we go! Over here!

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Somebody's getting the idea PING.

[McGavin999]

Actually, I'm one of the people who believes that Iran is behind the bombing using their surrogates in Iraq. However, I do believe that Z-man will be blamed and that's fine, as long as they take care of the problem they are having with some of the Shiia radicals. If suddenly the militias are disbanded, we'll know the truth.

[SoFloFreeper]

The mainstream media must be awfully sad, today...along with John Murtha, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, etc.

[traderrob6]

Regardless of the press hyperventilating, things are not so dire as they would like us to believe.

http://exposingtheleft.blogspot.com/2006/02/iraqi-sunni-bloc-to-rejoin-talks-on.html

[Anti-Bubba182]

Iran definitely would gain from an Iraqi civil war. The thing is that if they were implicated in the destruction of a Shiite shrine it would be worse for them than Zarqawi who has already proclaimed Shiites heretics of Islam.

Even so, blowing up the shrine is a risky move that has the chance of turning Iraq against him.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Civil War has not started, but reconcilliation between the Sunnis and Shias may take some killing in the meantime.

http://www.nationalreview.com/buckley/buckley200602241451.asp

[Allegra]

Again, I'm not buying that stuff in Buckley's article.

How much time has Buckley spent in Iraq observing?

Not as much as I have.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Buckley is venerable but wrong. From the, "It didn't work" Article he penned

"..One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed. The same edition of the paper quotes a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Reuel Marc Gerecht backed the American intervention. He now speaks of the bombing of the especially sacred Shiite mosque in Samarra and what that has precipitated in the way of revenge. He concludes that "the bombing has completely demolished" what was being attempted -- to bring Sunnis into the defense and interior ministries..."

He has taken as true the opinion of another writer on the subject of the significance of the bombing of the Golden Dome. It is a serious event but not an irredeemable one, especially if it is shown to be the work of Al-Quaeda.

[McGavin999]

I think they already know who did it since they arrested 4 men who were "guarding" the shrine. Publically, they will place the blame on Zarquawi and behind the scenes will quietly dismantle the militias, form a unity government, and put a secular Iraqi in charge of the Department of Interior who will assure that the militia thugs are not only contolled, but marginalized.

This thing brought Iraq to the brink and they all had a chance to see what was over that cliff they were headed towards. The Shiia looked at a life similar to their Iranian neighbors (and believe me, they know what the Iranian people are going through), the Sunni looked at being wiped out, and the Kurds realized that withdrawing to the north, even with the oil wells, would live a world of poverty as their facilities were constantly attacked. Nobody liked what they saw.

[Anti-Bubba182]

I hope that all of that is true and Iraqis see national unity as the best course. Civil War is in the interest on Iran and Al-Quaeda, not them.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I heard on TV (Fox News I think) that the Sunnis were responsible for security of the mosque, since the shrine was in a Sunni area. The Shia had asked the Government to protect the shrine, but the local Sunnis demanded that it was their responsibility. I appears that al qaeda infiltrated the Sunni security forces.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Thanks, That makes more sense than a Shiite guard taking part in the destruction of the Shrine.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

Here is a rebuttal to Buckley:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1586330/posts

[McGavin999]

I hadn't heard that. All the Iraqi blogs are saying they were Shiia guardsmen.

[Marine_Uncle]

" Ding! Ding! Ding!"
Hey. Where's my fork at. Hopefully we shall continue to see versions with varying degrees of digression (their analysis) come in. Hopefully the culprits shall be well established in the coming days. I am equally interested in observing just how some of the Iraqi leadership carry themselves during this period.
As you are quite aware, one must expect a continued resistance. Hell those tens of thousands of released criminals alone must find sources of money to feed themselves. But one thing is for sure. Whoever decided to blow up the golden dump now must realize they badly miscalculated the end result. A similar act was carried out in Iran some years back. Iran did not go into any civil war.
To many experts continue to get their equations wrong. Of course it is easy to misread or miscalculate in these type of scenarios, so perhaps we are a bit tough on the doomsdayers at times. But underlining facts are somehow to often left on the sidelines. And one fact that seems to hold true is that far fewer Iraqi (country wide) seem to have the stomach or reason to start a civil war between the two major sects. Where are the tens of thousands in each province coming out with pitchforks, clubs and AK47's swearing by allah they will kill the other muslim sect.
What continues in my mind to be the case is a carefully orchestrated hollywood movie with the mian settings of course being set up in the capital, and sub scenes in a dozen mostly sunni cities, with a smatering once every few months of a scene directed from say Basrah, or some city in Salaluma province or up north around Mosul.
I sure don't see some ten million Iraqis fighting to the death against one another and the coalition troops.