Sunni Extremists Have Attacked And Damaged Samarra’s Askariya Shrine In Iraq

Al Askari Mosque - Shrine of the 10th and 11th Shia Imams: Ali an-Naqi & Hasan al-Askari - Before the bombing in 2006, Samarra, Iraq. Wikipedia

Extremists In Iraq Attack Shiite Shrine, Killing 6 -- 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 Askariya Shrine 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.

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More News On Sunni Extremists Attacking And Damaging Samarra’s Askariya Shrine In Iraq

Mortars Fired at Samarra Mosque Stoke Fears of Renewed Iraq Civil War -- NBC
Mortars Strike Near Revered Iraq Shiite Shrine -- NDTV/AFP
Mortar fire wounds 14 near major Shi'ite shrine in Iraq's Samarra -- Today's Zaman/Reuters
Iraqi Ambassador Confirms ISIS Attack on Shiite Shrine -- Time

My Comment: There is going to be blow-back for this attack .... and I shudder to think what it could be.

Reconciliation At Iraq's Ground Zero

From Time Magazine:

February 22, 2006 was when it all went to hell. At least, that's how many Iraqis— Sunnis and Shi'ites alike — remember it. That was the day a powerful bomb set by Sunni extremists ripped through the golden dome of the ancient al-Askari Shrine, one of the holiest sites of Shi'ism, located in the predominantly Sunni city of Samarra, 65 miles north of Baghdad. The blast triggered a round of sectarian bombings, massacres and kidnappings so horrifying that for the next year and a half, many Iraqis would wonder if life would ever return to normal — and had many in Washington warning of an intractable slide into civil war.

Between 2004 and 2007, al-Qaeda in Iraq had "controlled the city", says General Ra'ad Jassim Mohammed, one of the lead Iraqi National Police commanders in Samarra. Today, the city is witnessing a slow but shaky revival. Two months ago, the central market re-opened; a university — the city's first — is now under construction; and even the rubble of the ancient shrine, which was bombed again in 2007, is being prepared for a momentous rehabilitation. A city that had come to symbolize Iraq's sectarian schism may yet play a key role in national reconciliation. That's if its leaders heed the lingering warning signs.

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My Comment: On the morning that I heard of the Samara Mosque attack, I knew instinctively that the country was going to slip into sectarian war. Both sides now had the excuse to go to war with each other (a conflict that both sides desperately wanted) .... and American forces were to spread out to be a factor in preventing this escalation.

It is unfortunate, but Iraq had to go through the experience of sectarian warfare and ethnic cleansing. Saddam Hussein was successful in maintaining the peace, but like Tito of Yugoslavia ... when the tyrant was gone the controls that have always kept the peace (through brutality and selective murder) disappeared also.

With hindsight, I now know that the Sunni-Shiite divide and its historical grievances were to deep to reconcile. That even though the Americans and their allies had the best of intentions, a large segment of the Iraqi population had other priorities.

The war is now over. Many of the men who started the sectarian war are now dead, in prison, or have fled the country. The reconstruction of the al-Askari Shrine is a noble venture. With time the shrine will be finished .... and I predict that upon its completion the new Samarra Mosque will be a symbol of the new Iraq.