Shiites attacked in both Iraq and Pakistan?

[Bonhomme Richard]

It seems at this early stage that Al Qaeda has made a simultaneous assault on the Shiites. I can only imagine two reasons assuming that is was Al Qaeda.
1. Move Iraq closer to civil war.
2. Force Pakistan to focus their efforts away from Al Qaeda strongholds in western Pakistan and concentrate on civil unrest

[underpants]

1. Link to thread on attack in Pakistan

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x394266

The Today Show lead with "Chaos in Iraq" this morning. MAdness.

[BFLiberal]

2. 125 Dead........

At least that is the count so far.

[nostamj]

4. 143 dead in Iraq alone

close to 200 with the Parkistanis. Shiite religious sites.

WTF is going on?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/03/02/international0935EST0544.DTL

[newyawker99]

17. Hi BFLiberal!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[GainesT1958]

3. Sounds like an al Quaeda move to me..

After all, they're fundy SUNIIS, not Shi'ites.

So how does this make us any safer if our troops are (at least in Iraq) in the area--or worse, "in the way"? :mad:

John Kerry NEEDS to bring this up, and to keep POUNDING it RELENTLESSLY!

B-)

[madrchsod]

5. somehow last year i came across

a sunni-shiite chat room-dicussion board. these guys hate each other with a passion! they were posting the most incredible ways they were going to kill each other.. there is a civil/religous brewing in the middle east thanks in large part to the cabal who are behind bush. these people are no friends of the muslim religion and they are betting on the islamic nations war among themselves.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

6. Hersh's article on the Khan/bin Laden deal looks at this a little

"A large-scale American military presence in Pakistan could also create an uproar in the country and weaken Musharraf’s already tenuous hold on power. The operation represents a tremendous gamble for him personally (he narrowly survived two assassination attempts in December) and, by extension, for the Bush Administration—if he fell, his successor might be far less friendly to the United States. One of Musharraf’s most vocal critics inside Pakistan is retired Army Lieutenant General Hamid Gul, a fundamentalist Muslim who directed the I.S.I. from 1987 to 1989, at the height of the Afghan war with the Soviets. If American troops start operating from Pakistan, there will be “a rupture in the relationship,” Gul told me. “Americans think others are slaves to them.” Referring to the furor over A. Q. Khan, he added, “We may be in a jam, but we are a very honorable nation. We will not allow the American troops to come here. This will be the breaking point.” If Musharraf has made an agreement about letting American troops operate in Pakistan, Gul said, “he’s lying to you.”"

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040308fa_fact

[nostamj]

7. more from Hersh

Now, with Musharraf’s agreement, the Administration has authorized a major spring offensive that will involve the movement of thousands of American troops.

now we'll add the Pakistani body count to Afghanistan and Iraq - military and civilian... just for *'s political gain.

criminals.

on edit: closing html tags...

[Aidoneus]

8. and a small exchange in Afghanistan

an Afghan army (US puppet) cadet was harassing a crowd of Hazara Shias demonstrating in their Ashura festival, and the latter began throwing rocks at him in response; the army fired on them with their guns, killing one and injuring more than a dozen.

Ashura is always a very tense time, this one particularly so..

[bemildred]

9. I am reluctant to assume anybody in particular is behind this,

but the phrase "divide and rule" comes to mind. Of course plain
old hate is a possibility, but the coordination and international
character of it suggest otherwise. I expect that it being the festival of Ashura is no accident.

[nostamj]

10. it could have been much worse

they caught 4 bombers in Basra before they could detonate. that's three coordinated attacks across Iraq...

amazing this story is NOT hot today. outrage fatigue?

[bemildred]

11. Well, it's not the right image security and stability wise.

Google News has an interesting juxtaposition right now:

A) Bombers in Iraq , Pakistan Kill 184 People on Muslim Holy Day , Hurt 590

B) Bush: America making progress against terrorists

[nostamj]

13. typical for bushco

up is down
hate is love
progress is backsliding into utter bloodshed and chaos

[Aidoneus]

15. do you have a quick link that expands on the al-Basrah bit?

haven't seen that yet, thanks..

[Aidoneus]

18. nevermind, found one

two guys in a truck bomb that never went off, two women trying to mingle in the crowds.. ugh.

[Aidoneus]

14. I think "divide and unrule" would be a more fitting phrase

otherwise agreed..

absolutely these being on Ashura is no accident.

[bemildred]

16. "divide and unrule"

Yeah.

I consided the "Bush did it" theory, based
on the "threat" of the Iraqis uniting and setting
their own agenda, etc. but that does not hold
much water. Whoever is behind this is no friend
of the Bush admin in it's great Iraqi adventure.
The problem is the Shrubites have made so many enemies
it's hard to pick one.

Edit: removed some redundant verbiage.

[Aidoneus]

19. it is somewhat probable to say who was behind the Quetta events

two particular groups, by the names of Sipah e-Sahhaba & Lashkar e-Jhangvi, have a record of attacks like this on Shias in Pakistan (mostly in Sindh, Baluchistan, and Baltistan/Gilgit in the north), in addition to a similar situation across the border in the Hazara areas with some of their peers. To them the Shia are kafir, and walking bullseyes; I get the rhetoric, but not the motives or the acts. These movements were birthed by the dictator of the time, both as an instrument of state policy and as a way of making sure that America's Shah of Pakistan didn't go out the same way as his neighbor.

I cannot make sense of these things in Iraq, the whos or the whys or almost any of it, and not just for this. My brain must be getting in the way. Obviously "divide and unrule" is the idea whoever it is, but there are more effective ways of going about it.

[bemildred]

20. Thanks for that.

I tend to assume the fundy groups are, to one degree or another,
tools. Sometimes that is just wrong. Sometimes, as in the case
you point out, they are a golem walking on after its creator is
dead. But often, they are used because they are handy and stupid.
Fundies make great soldiers and other sorts of tools.

Pakistan, as I understand it, is still very tribal and a very bad
place for ignorant and arrogant outsiders to be poking sticks. I
tend to think it is far more dangerous than Iraq in terms of the
possible social explosive force.

I think we'll have to wait and see if anything turns up as far as
what happened today and whatever degree of coincidence there was
involved.

[_Jumper_]

12. Shiites are targets of Sunni radicals too

Some of them hate the Shiites even more than they hate Jews.

[Tellurian]

21. Ahem...

"Whoever is behind this is no friend
of the Bush admin in it's great Iraqi adventure.
The problem is the Shrubites have made so many enemies
it's hard to pick one."

The CIA are infamously known for their bloodbath uprisings...maybe the students have finally eclipsed their teacher!