Iraqi Shiites bury their 'martyrs' and tell Americans to get out

[Spazito]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Chanting "No to America", more than 10,000 Shiite Muslims, some armed, marched alongside the coffins of two men killed in a shootout with US troops in Baghdad's volatile neighborhood of Sadr City.


Militiamen armed with assault rifles and pistols escorted Friday's procession, led by a cleric who waved a ceremonial sword.


Raising their fists in the air, the men roared, "There is no God but Allah. America is the enemy of God," as they marched through the teeming area. Relatives then took the bodies to the Shiite holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad.

snip

But they issued a stern warning to Americans to stay out of the squalid neighborhood of 1.5 million people.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1514&e=1&u=/afp/iraq_us_shiites_demo

[bif]

1. This is going to get real ugly

Real fast.

[Bragi]

2. The BBC version of this story...

has a rather interesting element not contained in the AFP report.

Titled "Iraqis protest at US 'terrorism'" it quotes the Shia cleric as saying: "America claims to be the pioneer of freedom and democracy, but it resembles or indeed is a terror organisation."

This explicit use of the word "terror" here to describe the US occupation is an interesting development in the political linguistics of the Iraq war.

Using the "T" word effectively turns the tables on the US spinners, and it's pretty potent. I expect we will see it used more frequently.

- B

[Spazito]

3. More proof that there is "self-censoring" going on in the US media...

what's the old expression? Treat people like mushrooms, keep them in the dark and feed them sh*t!

[Barrett808]

4. Link? Sounds worthwhile n/t

n/t

[Spazito]

6. Here's the link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3181392.stm

[qanda]

5. Very frightening article

Especially this part:

"How long will you be silent? Americans threaten Syria. They are threatening Iran. In the future, they will threaten more Arabs," Darraji said.

In an interview with AFP, Darraji compared the Americans to "wolves" and said they planned "to eliminate every believer who stands against their mistakes."