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Bosonic

(3,746 posts)
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 07:45 PM Jun 2014

Sunni Extremists in Iraq Fire Mortars into Shiite Shrine

Source: New York Times

BAGHDAD — Sunni extremists fired mortars into a shrine in Samarra that is sacred to Shiites late Monday, killing six people and damaging the shrine, according to a report on Iraqi state television.

Attacks on Samarra’s Al Askari Mosque by Qaeda-related groups in 2006 set off a wave of sectarian violence throughout Iraq that took years to calm.

A report on the Iraqiya television network said four mortar shells were fired into the compound of the mosque, which was built in 944 and is considered one of the most important shrines in the Shiite world.

A security official in Samarra said only two mortar shells actually hit the mosque’s famous golden dome, and damage was slight. The other two landed in a courtyard, where many worshipers had gathered to celebrate the first day of Ramadan.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/world/middleeast/sunni-extremists-in-iraq-fire-mortars-into-shiite-shrine.html?_r=0

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iandhr

(6,852 posts)
2. PRESSURE ON OBAMA TO QUICKLY RESOLVE CENTURIES-OLD SUNNI-SHIITE CONFLICT
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 07:51 PM
Jun 2014

Congressional leaders left the White House on Wednesday “deeply frustrated” that President Obama had not found a swift resolution to the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites that began in the seventh century A.D.

After meeting for more than an hour with the President in the Oval Office, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed disappointment that Mr. Obama “came up empty” when asked for a plan to heal the rift between the two religious groups, which began in the year 632.

“All we ask of this President is that he do one thing: settle a religious conflict that has been going on for a millennium and a half,” McConnell said. “What did he offer today? Nothing.”

Speaker of the House John Boehner acknowledged that there was a possibility that Obama might find a way to resolve the centuries-old Sunni-Shiite conflict, but the Ohio Republican was not optimistic.

“This struggle between Sunnis and Shiites has been going on for almost fifteen hundred years,” he said. “That means President Obama has had ample time to fix it.”

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2014/06/pressure-on-obama-to-quickly-resolve-centuries-old-sunni-shiite-conflict.html

fleabiscuit

(4,542 posts)
4. IMHO, those headlines/reporting/writing/airing would make more sense if the labels are dropped.
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 08:17 PM
Jun 2014

Sunni, Shiite, Christian, Cathloic, Baptist, Protestant, all of it just needs to be replaced with "religious." Religious extremists fire mortars into religious shine. Par for the course. SCOTUS says religion can piss in my cereal. What else is new? They are all the damn same. grrrrrr

fujiyama

(15,185 posts)
7. Huh? Sorry. No, there are multiple sides to each conflict
Mon Jun 30, 2014, 11:48 PM
Jun 2014

and in this case, we need to know who the players are. The reality is our Sunni Saudi buddies are funding all sorts of extremist groups throughout the region to further their Wahhabist cause. Shiites are typically persecuted throughout the Middle East (and Muslim countries in general), as are all non Muslims including Christians, Jews, and others.

Let's not sugarcoat it or paint it with false equivalence. And while the SC ruling was terrible and wrong (fuck Hobby Lobby), the equivalent ruling in one of those countries is an edict coming down condemning women using birth control to execution for being a "whore" or an "adulterer".

Let's keep this shit in perspective.

fleabiscuit

(4,542 posts)
8. No one needs to look for perspective, it's right in front.
Tue Jul 1, 2014, 02:19 PM
Jul 2014

Women die from unwanted pregnancies, how is SCOTUS doing any better from any other Imam? Religious extremists are killing religious extremists. The sooner they are all done killing each other the better.

lexx21

(321 posts)
10. Yes, but quite apt in this situation...
Tue Jul 1, 2014, 03:28 PM
Jul 2014

The only group they hate more than us is each other, and they are proving that daily. "You don't worship Allah my way... I kill you"... "NO... You don't worship Allah MY way... I kill YOU." It's pointless to ever try to fix that kind of crap. You can't, you won't, so don't bother. Let them sort it out amongst themselves.

Yes, the news reports of those caught in the crossfire can be heart breaking, however are you willing to commit thousands of troops into that quagmire for the next several centuries? That is what it would take when you are talking about a religious hatred that runs that deep. Ethnic hatred, religious hatred, hatred of any kind is simply mindless.

Look at the stature that the Serbs erected. The guy started WW 1, and they see him as a hero a century later. If you can't fix stupid with people who are actually willing to talk to you, then how are you supposed to "fix" the middle east?

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