corrente

Hope Sistani blessed this effort, eh?

Backed by helicopters, American tanks charged into the centre of this holy city today and shelled positions held by fighters loyal to a radical cleric, who condemned the United States and Britain in a sermon. The Shrine of Imam Ali, one of the most sacred sites for Shiite Muslims, was slightly damaged in the fighting.

Four Iraqis died and 22 were wounded, said Hussein Hadi Karim, administrator at Najaf General Hospital, adding most were civilians. Fearing arrest by American troops, members of the militia loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr often avoid taking their casualties to hospitals.

Meanwhile, explosions and heavy machine-gun fire rocked Najaf neighbourhoods for hours today, and bands of militiamen with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar tubes roamed the city of dun-coloured buildings. Smoke billowed from blasted buildings.

Four holes, each about 30 centimetres long and 20 centimetres wide were visible on the golden dome of the Imam Ali mosque. They appeared to have been caused by machine-gun fire, but it was unclear which side did it.

During their crackdown on al-Sadr’s militia, U.S. forces have been careful to avoid damaging shrines in Najaf and elsewhere for fear of enraging Iraq’s Shiite majority.

But Al-Sadr’s spokesperson, Qays al-Khazali, told The Associated Press that the Americans were responsible.

Reports of damage to the shrine were widely reported on Arab TV.
(via Toronto Star)

Nice one, guys. Really, Bush seems kinda schizzy. At home, they do everything they can to manipulate the media ("work the refs," as Alterman says). Abroad, they don't seem to care. And it isn't that they don't work the refs abroad, it's they go out of their way to foul, and then thumb their noses. Seems very short-sighted. Do they care about the base, and only the base? Does Bush truly believe the Rapture is coming, so long-term considerations are not relevant? WTF?