Islamic Extremists attack Catholic Church in Baghdad, clash with Iraqi forces

[USArmyParatrooper]

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- The death toll from a hostage standoff at a Catholic church in Baghdad has risen to 58, police officials with the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Monday.
Seventy-five others were wounded in the attack by armed gunmen Sunday, the officials said, adding that most of the casualties were women and children. Two priests were also among the dead as well as 17 security officers and five gunmen.

The hours-long standoff ended Sunday after Iraqi security forces stormed the Sayidat al-Nejat church. Eight suspects were arrested.
"All the marks point out that this incident carries the fingerprints of al Qaeda," Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader Obeidi said on state television Sunday.
He said that most of the hostages were killed or wounded when the kidnappers set off explosives inside the church.

At least two of the attackers were wearing explosive vests, which they detonated just minutes before security forces raided the church, the police officials said.
The Islamic State of Iraq later claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement posted on a radical Islamic website. The umbrella group includes a number of Sunni extremist organizations and has ties to al Qaeda in Iraq.

"The Mujahedeens raided a filthy nest of the nests of polytheism, which has been long taken by the Christians of Iraq as a headquarter for a war against the religion of Islam and they were able by the grace of God and His glory to capture those were gathered in and to take full control of all its entrances," the group said on the website.
Pope Benedict XVI said Monday that he was praying "for the victims of this absurd violence -- all the more ferocious in that it hit defenseless people gathered in the house of the Lord, which is home to reconciliation and love."

Survivors of the ordeal said they were about to begin Sunday night services when the gunmen entered the church, according to Martin Chulov, a journalist for the U.K.-based Guardian newspaper who was on the scene. A priest ushered the congregants into a backroom, Chulov reported that survivors said.
At one point, one of the gunmen entered the room and threw an unidentified explosive device inside, causing casualties, Chulov said.
The U.S. military spokesman said that as many as 120 people were taken hostage.

More....

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/11/01/iraq.violence/index.html?hpt=T1

As US forces draw down, it's going to get more and more ugly. This is why our exit from Iraq needs to be slow and methodical.

[StandingInLeftField]

1. I wish God would make up Her mind.

"The Mujahedeens raided a filthy nest of the nests of polytheism, which has been long taken by the Christians of Iraq as a headquarter for a war against the religion of Islam and they were able by the grace of God and His glory to capture those were gathered in and to take full control of all its entrances," the group said on the website.

Pope Benedict XVI said Monday that he was praying "for the victims of this absurd violence -- all the more ferocious in that it hit defenseless people gathered in the house of the Lord, which is home to reconciliation and love."

So sad. For all sides.

[USArmyParatrooper]

2. I'm not following what you meant by God making up her/his/its mind nt

[StandingInLeftField]

9. Just a way of saying that everyone thinks God is on his/her side.

Has been happening forever within every religion, even Buddhism (interesting discussion on Buddhist sectariansim: http://newbuddhist.com/forum/showthread.php?t=425 .)

[USArmyParatrooper]

10. Ah, true.

It stands to reason every religion thinks they're "right" and all others are "wrong", otherwise said person wouldn't be that particular religion.

Where I draw the line is the use of any kind of force, be it the threat of violence or the power of a government to force those views on others.

The right to individual thoughts and beliefs are the most sacred of all human rights IMO.

[sally cat]

4. Killing worshippers of another religion in the name of Islam? They came right out and said it?

[USArmyParatrooper]

7. That's not exactly unprecedented. nt

[WinkyDink]

3. Killing women and children. Always the innocents suffer.

I do not exempt U.S. drones.

[tuckessee]

5. This stuff didn't happen before the US reworked Iraq.

Clashes & pograms against non-Islamic minorities were non-existent in the decades before American military interference.

Had the US not used the Iraqi Christian population as a base of ready-made collaborators and unleashed & empowered radical terrorist forces by destroying Iraq's social, political & economic structures I doubt we'd be seeing things like this.

[bullwinkle428]

6. +1

[Chulanowa]

8. Well, hate to pop that bubble...

But the difference is that it's no longer state-sanctioned. It's easy enough to forget that Saddam actively persecuted Shia, Sufi, and Yazidi, under the argument that they were "rebels" or "spies" rather than because they weren't Sunni or Christian.

Religious-based persecution and murder have a long and nasty history in Iraq. It's just that now it's individual Iraqis doing it, rather than the army and specials. And since it's also targeting Christians too, the west suddenly gives a damn.