One of Islam's holiest shrines was destroyed in Iraq.  Something makes me think all Hell is going to break loose between the Sunnis and Shiites over this.

Before:
http://www.atlastours.net/iraq/alaskareyya_shrine.jpg
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/images/samarra-iraq-066.jpg

After:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/world_enl_1140597872/img/1.jpg
http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20060222/capt.532d3700a1c2427ba5bfefe7f6f417c0.aptopix_iraq_explosion_bag126.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4738472.stm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060222/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

-b0b
(...busts out the marshmallows.)

Ya it was 1200 years old. Whoever bombed that mosque is just trying to start a bloody civil war.

This shrine supposedly housed the remains of the 10th and 11th Imams, which is somehow significant to these guys.  I don't see what the big deal is.  After all, it's not like they weren't dead already.

So far, I've seen them say America is partially responsible, Israel is partially responsible, and the president of Iraq is partially responsible, even though they know who bombed the place.  How ridiculous is that?  Maybe they should let the blame fall where it belongs and stop using this as a political catalyst.

Oh well, they'll get over it.

-b0b
(...is already over it.)

Here's a side-by-side comparison...

http://i1.tinypic.com/oa3o5k.jpg

I don't think that will buff out.

-b0b
(...wowzers.)

I would say something of this nature would compare to the Lincoln memorial getting destroyed by a bomb, or even worse. The building  plays a major part of the religion there, and poof, its gone. It amazes me that a religion that is a peaceful one is so quick to riot and kill and maim. Granted, that is not everyone, but they sure have a large minority that is giving the Muslim faith a bad name. They sure make a convenient "bad guy" for the United States. A nice faceless enemy to blame stuff on.

blah.

Why can't this happen at the Dome of the Rock!  Then Antichrist can help the Jews rebuild their temple.  I think it goes to show you how Satan is working through the Muslim religion in having the same spot be a holy place for them too.  But it all works to the glory of God....but still....I WANT THE END OF THE WORLD TO COME SOON!

To comment on this bombing...I smell something fishy.  I really don't see why insurgents would bomb a place they worship in, no matter if they are two different sects.  Anyone else get that feeling?

X

http://home.comcast.net/~wraithtouch/Temple.gif

"Religion of Peace" my butt.  Islam is anything but.  I think Doug Patton summarized things pretty well in his article entitled "I Don't Care."


Quote:

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11. I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia. I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat. I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques. I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs. I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights. In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care. When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't care. When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don't care. When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don't care. And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and - you guessed it - I don't care! Doug Patton, Column of June 6, 2005

-b0b
(...doesn't care.)

X wrote on Feb 23^rd, 2006 at 11:47am:

Why can't this happen at the Dome of the Rock!

That's a huge +1, over.



Quote:

I really don't see why insurgents would bomb a place they worship in, no matter if they are two different sects.

I don't think you understand the gravity of their differences.  These people kill one another without a thought.

To put your quote in another light, it'd be like saying "I don't really see why the Catholics slaughtered the Waldensians wholesale, no matter if they are two different sects."

People don't need a reason to be stupid, and I'm fresh out of reasons to care.

http://nillahood.net/ups/7-7collage.jpg

-b0b
(...couldn't care less.)

Ya Patrick I get that feeling too. Dunno who benifits from an Iraqi civil war tho.

And ya its hard to sympathize with pple who suicide bomb civilians

Maybe someone over there thinks that if they get a Civil war going and more of our troops would be needed to contain the civil war in that region. Then the protestors here at home would make a louder uproar to pull out all of our troops until the civil unrest is finished (which will never happen).

Well in regards to the london bombing photos, it is my belief that those were carried out by somone in the british government considering there was a 1,000 person drill running that involved 4 bombs going off at those exact locations at the same time.

MediaMaster wrote on Feb 23^rd, 2006 at 1:06pm:

Well in regards to the london bombing photos, it is my belief that those were carried out by somone in the british government considering there was a 1,000 person drill running that involved 4 bombs going off at those exact locations at the same time.

You can parrot conspiracy theories all day long, but the facts are simple - these people are freakin' evil.

People in Western societies need to wake up to the fact that Islam has declared war on everything non-Muslim.  We have tried to bring Western values (namely, democracy and freedom) to a Muslim country.  This is tantamount to mixing oil and water.  Democracy, with all its values of integrity and personal responsibity, is directly contradictory to Islam.

We need to understand this and adopt a foreign policy that puts a proverbial wall around the Middle East.  If we must go to war with them, we need to establish a policy that exploits the sectarian rifts in Islam.  We need to make these idiots wear each other down. The longer we wait before changing tactics, the worse things will become for us.


What can I say?  What goes around comes around.  (Karma, anyone?)

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/images/0301-03.jpg

I'm sure the Buddhists want their shrines back, too, but hindsight is always 20/20.

In case you're not aware, most of the violence around the world seems to be tied to Islam. The Balkins, Chechnya, Indonesia, 9/11, Palestine, Afganistan, Nigeria, Sudan, and so on. Even in France, Australia, England, Sweden, Denmark, and other traditionally peaceful places, Muslim violence has become a problem.

If you take one look at the nations under Sharia (Islamic law), you'll instantly get transported back to the dark ages: see Iran and Saudia Arabia as prime examples, as well as Taliban-era Afganistan.

Perhaps most Muslims are neither terrorists nor extremists, but they sure produce a much higher percentage of terrorists and extremists than other cultures and religions.  Actions speak louder than words.


-b0b
(...blargs.)

"We need to understand this and adopt a foreign policy that puts a proverbial wall around the Middle East. "

I know!  How about we give countries, let's pick....ohhhh....the United Arab Emerents....and give them our ports!  Yeah just like how we've given the Chinese the Long Beach Naval Air Base, the only major deep water port that can take large ships on the west coast.  Or how we've put up as collateral, basically given over control, of national forrest parks such as the Grand Canyon to the UN.  This is just another way the globalists are forcing people to come under the control of a one world government.

I know this is a little off target of the subject, but I agree with you bob.  These people, and these events, are evil.  And people will only realize this when they're either dead and in hell, or when their entire world is taken from them.

X

Little too much hate in this thread for my liking. I have several Muslim friends who are awesome. Like I said before the majority of that faith are peaceful, its the pricks who go out bombing stuff that give it a bad name. Not exactly a good thing, when you go lumping together everyone from a particular place in the world or from a particular religion.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c334/upperdecker/oa2oeh.jpg

Here's my beef with Islam.  The civilized world has bent over backward over the past 40+ years to bring Muslim countries into the modern era.  We've given them political, military, health, and financial assistance that goes way above and beyond the call of duty.  What do we get in return?

We get crapped on, that's what.  Every time you turn on the TV, you see some sect of Islam having blown something up or started some kind of war with an innocent third party.  As I said in my earlier post, nearly every single conflict of any real size has been started and perpetuated by Muslims.  Muslims don't just hate Americans.  No, no.  They hate Christians, they hate Jews, hell - they even hate themselves.

I don't care about their religion, but I do care about their attitude.  If they want to act like a bunch of primeval savages, they can keep their happy butts in the Middle East and we can keep ourselves in America, where we belong.

-b0b
(...fumes.)

MediaMaster wrote on Feb 23^rd, 2006 at 1:39pm:

Little too much hate in this thread for my liking. I have several Muslim friends who are awesome. Like I said before the majority of that faith are peaceful, its the pricks who go out bombing stuff that give it a bad name. Not exactly a good thing, when you go lumping together everyone from a particular place in the world or from a particular religion.

Until a short time ago, I thought the same thing.  Then, after studying the religion and looking at it as a whole, I came to a very different conclusion.

After looking at Mohammed's life and learning a thing or two about his so-called "ministry," I've come to believe that anyone that claims to follow him is one of two things:

1) Freakin' Evil
2) A Pathological Liar

Let's take a look at the Quran and see exactly what kind of things their religion propogates...


Quote:

"Those that make war against God and His apostle and spread disorder in the land shall be slain or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off on alternate sides, or be banished from the land" The Table #32 "Prophet make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and deal sternly with them. Hell shall be their home, evil their fate" Sovereignity (66) #9 "Unbelievers are those that say: 'God is the Messiah, the son of Mary.' For the Messiah himself said: 'Children of Israel, serve God, my Lord and your Lord.' He that worships other deities besides God, God will deny him Paradise, and the Fire shall be his home. None shall help the evil-doers. Unbelievers are those that say: 'God is one of three.' There is but one God. If they do not desist from so saying, those of them that disbelieve shall be sternly punished." The Table #71 "When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield strike off their heads and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly. Then grant them their freedom or take a ransom from them, until War has laid down her burdens." Muhammad (47) #4 "When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent and take to prayer and render the alms levy, allow them to go their way. God is forgiving and merciful." Repentance (9) #5. "Fight against those to whom the Scriptures were given as believe in neither God nor the Last Day, who do not forbid what God and his apostle have forbidden, and do not embrace the true Faith, until they pay tribute out of hand and are utterly subdued." Repentance (9) #28 "Therefore do not falter or sue [or call] for peace when you have gained the upper hand" Mohammad (47) #34 "Make war on them until idolatry shall cease and God's religion shall reign supreme" The Spoils 8:~40 "God revealed his will to the angels, saying: 'I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers!' "This is because they defied God and His apostle. He that defies God and His apostle shall be sternly punished by God." The Spoils 6 8:12-

Does that sound like the "Religion of Peace" to you, Briney?  I can sympathize with the fact that you've got Muslim friends, but if they claim to hold to the ideals quoted above (assuming they're not radically out of context), they're responsible.

I accept responsibility for the Bible.  If it's wrong, I'm wrong.  If someone takes issue with the Bible and its precepts and teachings, they take issue with me because I try to mold my life around that very book.

Likewise, if your friends claim to do the same for the Quran, please ask them to logically defend these (and other) passages that clearly paint Islam as being anything but a "religion of peace."

Yanno, if some crazy sect of Christianity started bombing mosques or synagogues, there would be an immediate and universal outcry from the rest of Christiandom.  Where is the outcry from the Muslim community over this?  Why are they so silent?

The differences between old-school Islam (i.e. the Middle East varieties) and the modern world will never be reconciled.  Attempting to find a common ground is fruitless.

-b0b
(...isn't trying to hate on anyone.)

I've got a good response to this post but have somethin due tomm mornin. So consider this my placeholder.

America isn’t doing much better.  

Well there ya have it. Ironman pretty much summed it up lol.

Ironman wrote on Feb 23^rd, 2006 at 11:52pm:

America isn’t doing much better.

Exactly!

America is dropping the ball, and the rest of the world is holding our feet to the fire over it.  There are parts of the world that you and I can't visit simply because of our nationality.  America has done some great injustices, and we - as Americans - are held responsible for them.

What I don't get is why that same concept is somehow taboo when applied to the "Religion of Peace."  When significant numbers of Muslims start blowing stuff up in the name of their deity, why can't we hold them universally accountable?  Obviously, something is seriously wrong with Islam.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for individual accountability.  However, I think we need to take the blinders off and start realizing that Islam is a dangerous religion.  Does it have to be?  No!  Catholicism was a dangerous religion for centuries, but they're mostly harmless at this point.  When's the last time you heard about the Catholics (literally) killing off the competition?  Mind you, this newer, happier brand of Catholicism isn't necessarily right, but at least the depths of their wrongness isn't leading to the deaths of the so-called "infidels."

What is it that makes religion somehow sacrosanct over nationality?  Why is it acceptable to hold people responsible for the wrongs of their (presumably democratic) nation, but not for the wrongs of their religion?

If I make a post that says "HAHA FRANCE SUXORS!!!111" it's considered humor, but if I were to make a post that says "HAHA ISLAM IS TEH SUXOR!!!111" it's considered bigotry.  Why?

If my church screws up, I have an expectation that I'll be held personally responsible for it!  In fact, I even expect to take flack for what other evangelical Christians mess up.  Pat Robertson?  I can't stand the guy, and I hope he retires very soon.  However, everytime he makes some idiotic comment about "9/11 was caused by homosexuality," I prepare myself to respond to the criticism that I know it'll generate.  In short, I'm guilty by association.

Muslims of the Middle East need to grow the heck up.

-b0b
(...can't think of a better way to start a Friday morning.)

Quote:

Attacks turn sects from compromise By Steve Negus, Iraq Correspondent Published: February 23 2006 23:18 | Last updated: February 23 2006 23:18 Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s leading cleric, on Thursday made it clear that the Shia community must be free to defend itself, after having earlier called for calm after Wednesday’s bomb attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra. If necessary that would mean using militias rather than counting on government security forces or US troops. “If the security agencies are unable to guarantee the necessary security, then the believers are able to do so with God’s help,” he said in a statement issued amid a wave of retaliatory attacks on Sunni mosques. His comment, along with other statements from Shia officials in government, could be seen by Shia and Sunni as an acceptance of sectarian divides at the expense of efforts to build non-sectarian security forces and national institutions – in effect recognising that civil war could be imminent. Adel Abdel Mahdi, Iraq’s vice-president and a key figure in the Shia-led religious bloc, said the government “should give a bigger role to the people” in security. continues……… news.ft.com/cms/s/28949aec-a4c2-11da-897c-0000779e2340,dwp_uuid=c1a5b968-e1ed-11d7-81c6-0820abe49a01.html

This is a bad development.  Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is the only person able to keep the Shiites in check, and has always been very moderate.  It looks like this may be "game on" for a civil war.  If that's the case, our troops need to pull back and let them go at it.  There's no sense in having a bunch of unnecessary deaths by getting in between this.

Is it really that hard for a country to not be a craphole?  The Kurds are making huge strides at building a prosperous modern country, and the south is making reasonable progress too.  What is the problem with the rest of the freakin' country?  Do they want to live like that, or what?

Given the history of the region, civil war is only a matter of time.  I hope Bush has the good sense to stand back and let nature take it's course.  Any other approach will only delay the inevitable.  Having a "democratic" Iraq that is unstable is probably worse than a stable but totalitarian Iraq under Saddam's rule.  Look at Lebanon.  Iraq could become the middle eastern version of Somalia.  One big killing fest breeding nothing but more crazies.

-b0b
(...shakes his head.)

This woman deserves a medal for "getting it."

http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null

-b0b
(...nods.)

The vid isn't workin for me bob...ya got another link for whatever it is?

X