US soldiers ransack Sunni mosque

[Zhade]

Iraq's minority faith targeted in hunt for weapons

Luke Harding in Baghdad
Saturday January 3, 2004
The Guardian

Surrounded by upturned chairs and an abandoned turban, Sabah Al-Kaisey surveyed his ransacked office yesterday.

The American troops who burst into his mosque on Thursday morning had smashed down the front gate, broken the air conditioners and ripped up the carpets. They had also thrown several Korans on the floor and allegedly punched the man giving the call to prayer in the face.

"They even took our nuts," said Mr Kaisey yesterday, opening the door of the mosque's empty fridge.

The troops who raided the Ibn Taymiyah mosque, used by Baghdad's Sunnis, appear to have been looking for weapons used by Iraq's resistance. They recovered a couple of AK-47s, hand grenades and an anti-aircraft missile, US military officials said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1115334,00.html

[Zhade]

1. I'm surprised this was overlooked.

Did I post a dupe or something? I checked before posting.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

5. We were having at it last night.... (link)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=294971

[m-jean03]

2. I know this is awful but...

I deleted that because I offended my later-in-the-day, more awake self.

[GRClarkesq]

3. I am not trusting some Sunni clerics

who may have gotten caught babysitting some so-called "resistance" fighters.

[Just Me]

4. At minimum, this action complicates matters,...

,...inflames already existing suspicions and resistance to occupation forces.