Iraq's Shiites Now Chafe at American Presence

[sabra]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-south6may06,1,7364575.story?coll=la-headlines-world

Iraq's Shiites Now Chafe at American Presence
Perceived U.S. missteps, a torrent of angry propaganda and the sect's new political sway have fused to turn welcomers into foes.


KARBALA, Iraq — A visitor need not go far or search hard to hear and see the anti-American venom that bubbles through this ancient shrine city, which once welcomed U.S. forces as liberators.

"The American ambassador is the gate through which terrorism enters Iraq," says a banner hanging from the fence surrounding the tombs of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas, among the most revered martyrs of the Shiite Muslim faith.

A song screeches from a boombox at a nearby CD shop: "If the occupiers come at us, we will plant a bomb underneath them."

For three years, most of Iraq's Shiites welcomed — or at least tolerated — the U.S. presence here. In the weeks immediately after the American-led invasion, the mothers and sisters of Saddam Hussein's Shiite victims clutched clumps of dried earth as they wept over mass graves and thanked God for ending their oppression.

...

But now the mood has shifted. Perceived American missteps, a torrent of anti-U.S. propaganda and a recently emboldened Shiite sense of political prowess have coalesced to make the south a fertile breeding ground for antagonism toward America's presence.

[AlamoDemoc]

1. No wonder!

Fatal Basra crash sparks unrest

Last Updated: Saturday, 6 May 2006, 19:11 GMT 20:11 UK

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4981148.stm

British soldiers have clashed with Iraqis after a number of UK servicemen died in a helicopter crash in the southern city of Basra."

snip>


The city has been placed under a night-time curfew to defuse tensions.

BBC correspondents in Iraq say the events have opened a new chapter for British forces in the area - and it will be increasingly difficult for them to control Basra's streets.

[DemoTex]

2. " .. a torrent of anti-U.S. propaganda .."

But .. but .. but! I thought Bu$hco was spending millions of dollars to catapult our benevolent propaganda to all of Iraq. What's happening? Are we not getting our money's worth? Where is our counter-propaganda propaganda?