A ring of scaffolding around charred bricks is all that now stands in place of the golden dome that adorned one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines. Militants bombed the al-Askari mosque in the Iraqi city of Samarra in February 2006, destroying the dome and setting off a wave of sectarian bloodshed that killed tens of thousands of people and nearly tipped the country into all-out civil war. Now, with violence sharply down and Iraq's coffers swollen with oil revenues, officials hope the mosque can be restored to its former majestic glory in a few years. That could help heal bitter...