Snipers kill 16 pilgrims in Baghdad

[madokie]

My question is who is really behind this:shrug:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060820/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_attacks

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Snipers fired on a major Shiite religious procession in Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 16 pilgrims and injuring 230, officials said. Four suspected gunmen were shot dead by police.

The attacks occurred from rooftops along several points of the procession toward the shrine of Imam Moussa Kadhim in north Baghdad. They occurred in three predominantly Sunni districts — Fadhil, Haifa and Saligh — Health Ministry spokesman Qassim Allawi told The Associated Press.

Security forces killed two snipers in Fadhil and two suspected insurgents who tried to mingle with the crowed in the mixed neighborhood of Zafraniyah, police said.

In one neighborhood, security forces and Shiite militias were seen exchanging gunfire with unseen assailants. Gunfire echoed in the streets as people ran for cover.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. And this is OK with *, Rumsfeld, Rove, and Rice?! Who the eff is in

charge?

[madokie]

2. who says a snake can't live without its head.

[whistle]

3. Snipers suggests these are expert killers possibly

....from the American military or private armies or CIA operatives. Would insurgents waste their best shooters to being killed or captured in this type of operation?

[madokie]

4. I say it is real suspect,

US involvement likely. imo

[Itchinjim]

8. You wouldn't have to be a "best shooter"

to hit a person in a crowd of pilgrims. Actually it would be more difficult to miss hitting a person in a situation like that. It's more of a "point and shoot" operation than a CIA/Military operation.

[ThomWV]

5. Gotta Ask: Who Makes A Pilgrimage To Baghdad?

No religion I know of.

[Botany]

6. For Shi ites some of their most holy sites are in Iraq

I think the temple that was blown up in April or May was one.

[pooja]

7. I'm not sure if this is what the Pilgrimage is for or not

Bahá'í Faith
A Bahá'í pilgrimage currently consists of visiting the holy places in Haifa, Akká, and Bahjí in Northwest Israel. Bahá'ís do not have access to other places designated as sites for pilgrimage.

Bahá'u'lláh decreed pilgrimage in His Motherbook (Kitáb-i-Aqdas) to two places: the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad, Iraq, and the House of the Báb in Shiraz, Iran. In two separate Tablets, known as Suriy-i-Hajj, He prescribed specific rites for each of these pilgrimages (lifting the injunction regarding the shaving of one's head for pilgrimage in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas). It is obligatory to make the pilgrimage, "if one can afford it and is able to do so, and if no obstacle stands in one's way". Bahá'ís are free to choose between the two Houses, as either has been deemed sufficient. And although women are not bound to perform pilgrimage, they are certainly not prohibited to do so.

Later, `Abdu'l-Bahá designated the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh at Bahji (the Qiblih) as a site of visitation. No rites have been prescribed for this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrimage (hate to say I found it on wikipedia..)

[malaise]

9. Just watched it on BBC International

surreal!!

[stray cat]

10. It sounds like partisan violence along ethnic and religious lines

Thats certainly no surprise. It seems to happen along ethnic lines in most countries after a strong dictator has been in power and there is a power vacuum. The question is if anything can be done to prevent ethnic clensing and revenge killings at this point.