Death...death...

I was horrified when I first heard about the attacks in Iraq. Hell, I still am horrified. To understand how truly terrible this was for Shi'ites, imagine someone killing hundreds in the Vatican on Good Friday. Ashoura, which is what all of the people who were in the shrines for, holds the same significance for Shi'ite Muslims that Good Friday does for Christians. It is an observance of the death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the prophet Mohammed. I cannot really describe the day any better than that, but River can. River is the pen name (I assume it's not her real name) of the writer of Baghdad Burning. She is Iraqi, but she is very fluent in English, and writes more beautifully than almost anyone I know of. The post I link to is a wonderful explanation of Ashoura.

I'm utterly speechless about today's events in Baghdad and Karbala. I don't know how to put into words what is going on in my head. Iraq is screwed. When the American forces leave on June 30, it will only be a matter of time before Iraq decays into civil war.

I'm going to post more on this later. Hopefully, I'll be able to sort through my thoughts and write them down coherently.

POSTSCRIPT: I neglected to mention: there were also attacks on Shi'ite Muslims in Pakistan today. I don't have anything else to add. I just thought that that was noteworthy, also.

Robert