The Sunni on Sunni civil war in Iraq

AP/Washington Times:

A suicide truck bomber sent a deadly storm of metal, stone and jagged plaster through worshippers leaving a Sunni mosque yesterday, killing at least 39 in a likely sign of escalating internal Sunni battles between insurgents and those who oppose them.
The motive for the attack was not immediately clear, but it carried the hallmarks of an increasingly bloody struggle for control of Anbar province -- a hotbed of anti-U.S. guerrillas since the uprising in Fallujah in 2004 that galvanized the insurgency.
U.S. military envoys and pro-government leaders have worked hard to sway clan chiefs and other influential Anbar figures to turn against the militants, who include foreign jihadists fighting under the banner of al Qaeda in Iraq. The extremists have fought back with targeted killings and bombings against fellow Sunnis.
The blast in Habbaniyah -- in the heart of insurgent territory about 50 miles west of Baghdad -- was among the deadliest against civilians in Anbar.
The imam of the mosque had spoken out against extremists -- most recently in a sermon Friday, residents said. Many people in the neighborhood work for the Iraqi military and police forces, who frequently come under attack by militants.
The truck, filled with building materials such as stone and plaster board, was blown apart as worshippers left after midafternoon prayers.
Rescuers, including U.S. soldiers, pulled survivors from the debris. The U.S. military sealed off the area and said it opened its medical facilities to "the most life-threatening injuries" among the more than 60 hurt.
...
What this attack demonstrates is that the so called sectarian civil war is really one of ideology and power by a group of religious bigots who kill anyone who does not accept their weird beliefs no matter what their faith. Their intolerance has provoked a backlash not only among Shia but also Sunni Muslims in Iraq. It is a war of modernity against weirdo religious bigots who want to turn the clock back several hundred years. It is a war against al Qaeda versus the rest of the world. And, it is one that the Democrats want to retreat from and give hope to this hopeless enemy.

Bill Roggio has more on the attacks and notes the extreme measures al Qaeda is willing to take to get to those who reject their weird beliefs.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

29 % of companies say they are unlikely to keep insurance after Obamacare

Bin Laden's concern about Zarqawi's remains