Daily Alert Archives

Reading the Najaf Bombing

(Weekly Standard) Stephen Schwartz - After the horrendous bombing at the shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraqi Shias and Shia leaders in the U.S. pointed fingers at the Wahhabi sect, which is the official religion of Iraq's southern neighbor, Saudi Arabia. Wahhabis are known for their genocidal hatred of Shia Muslims. No sane Shia could have set off a bomb at the Imam Ali shrine, including Iranian Shias. The main cleric killed in the blast, Ayatollah Muhammad Bakir ul-Hakim, had spent years in Iran and was generally aligned with Tehran. While Western pundits sought a Shia figure on whom to pin the crime, Shia mourners marched in Iraq chanting: "There is only one God - Wahhabis are God's enemies." In addition, the Iraqi media were filled with articles condemning the Saudis and the Wahhabis in the most extreme terms.
2003-09-04 00:00:00
Full Article