CNN: At least 124 Dead in Najaf

[Cush]

from a reporter on the scene. People are blaming everyone from the US for lack of security to Israel

[Jacobin]

1. Chaos, death and bloodshed.

Waiting for Rumfilled to hold a press conference and talk about how this is all just the "price of freedom".....WHOSE fucking freedom and WHICH fucking freedom is that madman thinking of?

The ONLY good thing about this snafu is that Smirk is going DOWN in 2004. No way outta this mess for that mf.

[Kamika]

2. im sure there wont even be a press conference

I bet they dont even think its nessecery since no american died

[Kamika]

4. Note to mods

Since i cant edit my above post because of some bug.

I do not mean to say americans are worth more, Im trying to relay what poor measure of life our goverment has it is absolutely not meant in any racist way.

[gratuitous]

5. I think you're right

The thinking will be, "Hey it's just before a three-day weekend, nobody we know got killed, no point in getting out in front of the cameras and mourning a bunch of anonymous folks. Sure it's bad, but we can't do anything about it, and a press conference will just draw attention to a messy little incident we'd rather forget."

It was the same initial response to the bombing of the UN building, "no big deal." That PR goof blew up in their faces, too.

[TacticalPeek]

11. Press Konference: "Will folks blow stuff up? You betcha."

Will RumDummy burn in hell. You betcha.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

3. it just gets uglier and uglier by the minute....those poor iraqi people

is it possible to hate bush more???

[Clark Can WIN]

6. I keep finding new reserves

of hate and disgust everyday because of him. And I hate him even the more for that. I'm not a person normally given to anger so to have this extreme level of pure intractable hate for this man... if I didn't have a constructive outlet for this daily onslaught it would be positively rotting.

[Fleshdancer]

7. CNN analyst: Iraq going down in a tailspin

He said that if the Shi'ites (sp?) rise up from this, we're looking at complete disaster in Iraq. Now they're bringing up the possibilities of civil war.

With the holiday weekend, I wonder how long it will take for most Americans to even know how bad it's getting over there.

[gratuitous]

8. Now why would someone on CNN say that?

I mean, there's really only one place where the blame can fall if Iraq falls apart completely, isn't there? Or does CNN think that Clinton can be saddled with the blame for this, too?

[Fleshdancer]

9. I gave up

trying to figure out why analysts on news networks say what they say a long time ago. From the footage on TV, the whole area looks like it's in complete chaos and I fail to see how anyone can have a firm grasp of the current situation at this point.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

13. it's all part of the bushco game plan...choas in middle east

how else will he be able to thief and plunder and mame and kill to his hearts content...he is a classic seriel killer...started out on small animals....then texas death row inmates...now the world is his playground :puke:

[RummyTheDummy]

10. That country is on the verge of a civil war.

And guess what idiot got this county involved? I bet everyone from Condi to Rummy are shitting themselves right now wonedering how this all went so horribly wrong.

[nostamj]

12. everybody BUT * is shitting themselves

but * has NEVER taken responsibility for anything in his entire worthless life.

A RANT on this topic

[Must_B_Free]

14. BLAIR DID IT!

Look at the proof!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030829/168/541hq.html

He's looking on, smiling

[Junkdrawer]

15. “Leading Shiite Opponent to Secular Rule Killed in Blast”

No, that's not what we're hearing from the talking heads today. Today we're bing told the Hakim was an important Shiite ally. But Google Hakim and Theocracy. Here's just one article:

Shiite presses for Iraqi theocracy

Najaf, Iraq — Some 15,000 Iraqis cheered as a Shiite Muslim cleric who led the largest anti-Saddam Hussein movement visited one of the Shiites' holiest shrines Monday after returning from more than two decades in exile.

At the Shine of Imam Ali, Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim vowed to help rebuild Iraq and rejected U.S. domination over the country.

"We will never accept humiliation," Ayatollah al-Hakim told the crowd. "All tribal, ethnic and religious groups should unite under the banner of Islam to preserve independence, avoid differences, and build a free Iraq."

…

Ayatollah Al-Hakim's group is the closest Iraqi Shiite political grouping to Iran, which has raised concerns in the Bush administration. Washington opposes any Iranian-style theocracy taking control in Iraq.

More…

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030512.whshii512/BNStory/International

My guess is Hakim kept many neocon planners up at night. Well, he won't any longer.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

16. Yep. It's fortunate we don't have him to deal with anymore.

Thems the lucky breaks.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

17. he was a Chalabi cleric...speaking for the coalition

[Junkdrawer]

18. Huh? I'm reading through old news articles and I get...

the idea that Chalabi and Hakim were rivals...

Here's one prior to the invasion:

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/4700411.htm

Barzani and Hakim are wary of Chalabi, a former banker with links to hawks within the U.S. administration who some see as playing a role in a post-Saddam Iraq similar to that of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan.

Hakim and the Kurds say Chalabi has no support inside Iraq and has no claim to represent other opposition groups.


Also, I have yet to find one article where Hakim speaks in favor of the coalition. The ones I read say Hakim wanted and Islamic state and the US out as fast as possible.